HOMEOWNERS SUE TO BLOCK BEST BUY.Byline: Kerry Cavanaugh Staff Writer Hoping to block construction of a Best Buy store on Van Nuys Boulevard, the Sherman Oaks Homeowners Association on Wednesday filed a lawsuit against the city of Los Angeles
commission, committee - a special group delegated to consider some matter; "a committee is a group that keeps minutes and loses hours" - Milton Berle . The association alleges in the suit that the commission refused to consider a potential increase in neighborhood traffic that the big-box store This article has multiple issues: * Its factual accuracy is disputed. * It does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by citing reliable sources. would bring. The suit also charges that the city and commission violated the Ventura Boulevard Ventura Boulevard is one of the primary east-west thouroughfares in the San Fernando Valley; as it was originally a part of the El Camino Real (the trail between Spanish missions), Ventura Boulevard is the oldest route in the San Fernando Valley. It was also U.S. Specific Plan by allowing the Best Buy store to exceed a 33-foot height limit. A stairwell stair·well n. A vertical shaft around which a staircase has been built. stairwell Noun a vertical shaft in a building that contains a staircase Noun 1. and elevator shaft would measure 36 feet. Officials in the City Attorney's Office and Planning Department hadn't seen the lawsuit Wednesday and declined to comment. City Planning Director Con Howe has said the city usually doesn't count stairwells and elevator shafts in building height. But Ellen Vukovich, a member of the SOHA SOHA Spotted Owl Habitat Area SOHA South Okanagan Horse Association (Penticton, BC, Canada) SOHA Special Operations and Humanitarian Affairs board of directors, said the Ventura Boulevard plan is supposed to limit projects to 33 feet, and that the Planning Department's interpretation is creating an exception for Best Buy. Attorney Ben Reznik, a lobbyist who represents Best Buy developers, called the lawsuit a waste of time. Developers are considering redesigning the building so the elevator shaft and stairwell come in at 33 feet. ``That is doable,'' he said. ``That should take care of things once and for all.'' Kerry Cavanaugh, (818) 713-3746 kerry.cavanaugh(at)dailynews.com |
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