Preservation Issues
Hollywood Heritage is dedicated to preserving Hollywood's past. Hollywood Heritage takes an active role in issues involving the historic structures along the Hollywood Boulevard Commercial and Entertainment National Register District as well as other structures in Hollywood. Comments on preservation issues may be addressed to: preservation@hollywoodheritage.org. Or join our Preservation Issues Mailing List. We will be emailing important notices about upcoming preservation issues.
LA Times Reports that National Register Historic Landmark Grauman's Chinese Theater has been sold to CIM Group [read more]
La Weekly Article on the Hollywood Heritage Lawsuit
Hollywood Heritage Sues Los Angeles to Protect
Historic Buildings and Break a 20-Year Delay of Development Planning
In an effort to protect Hollywood 's historic buildings and resources and also provide for environmentally responsible development in the 1100-acre Hollywood Redevelopment Project, Hollywood Heritage has filed a lawsuit against the city of Los Angeles , the Community Redevelopment Agency of Los Angeles (CRA) and Whitley Investment Group. Several months of meetings and negotiations among the parties failed to resolve the issues:
- Thousands of housing units and millions of square feet of development being approved in Hollywood today without proper planning.
- The city and the CRA continue their long-standing refusal to prepare numerous studies and plans required by the Hollywood Redevelopment Plan in both 1986 and again in 2003.
- The city continues its systematic removal of the protected status of more than 200 declared historic buildings.
- The City Council, with the support of Hollywood 's CRA, has pursued a course of permitting development without following the legally-approved guidelines for demolitions of historic structures.
Hollywood Heritage is asking the court to compel the CRA to prepare and implement said plans which are unfunded and now almost 20 years overdue. The plans govern historic preservation, design, development guidelines, traffic, parking and more and are important because they were to help mitigate negative impacts from development and allow for informed public participation in the planning process. One need look only at the traffic/parking situation in Hollywood to understand the severe impact made by ignoring the legal mandate to create and implement guidelines for growth.
The following are links to the various legal documents filed by Hollywood Heritage in this case. They are in Adobe PDF format and require the free Adobe PDF reader:
- Amended Writ of Mandate (the actual lawsuit filing) (06-21-07)
- Exhibit 1: Hollywood Heritage response to the Draft EIR for the 2003 Hollywood Redevelopment Plan amendment
- Exhibit 2: Los Angeles Planning Department Recommendation Report on the zoning change for 1540 N. Vine
- Exhibit 3: CRA Response to Hollywood Heritage's request for documents
- Exhibit 4: Historic Resources in the Hollywood Redevelopment Area
Preservation Updates
On Jan 9, 2007, the historic apartment building at 1810 Whitley was demolished DESPITE its inclusion on the city's historic survey, a vote by the city's Cultural Heritage Commission to designate it as a landmark, and agreements with the developer to negotiate on a sale brokered by Hollywood Heritage.
Hollywood Heritage's response to the Negative Declaration for the Technicolor Building at Sunset Gower Studios due to its impacts on East-West Studios
Hollywood Heritage's documentation for the designation of 1802-16 Whitley Avenue.
Hollywood Heritage goes on record as supporting the inclusion of Santa Anita Park racetrack as a National Register Historic Landmark.