Residents urged to start preservation process
AT THE MEETING, were Shannon Ryan, Robbie O’Donnell and Mark Zecca.
Miracle Mile will be requesting the city for an Historic Preservation Overlay Zone (HPOZ) to protect their 80 and 90-year-old properties from McMansionization.
Nearly 65 residents learned the steps necessary to create an HPOZ at a morning meeting sponsored by the Miracle Mile Residential Association on Jan. 10 at Leonardo’s nightclub. Board member Mark Zecca chaired the meeting.
Sharon Ryan from the city Planning Dept. and Robbie O’Donnell, a Wilshire Park resident who coordinated that area’s HPOZ, were on hand to answer questions.
“We are pleased by the show of support this meeting reflects,” said Ken Hixson, an MMRA vice president. “This was our first step in going forward.”
Zecca conducted a PowerPoint presentation, covering the process, its positive and negative aspects, qualifications, as well as interim zoning to require a 75-day waiting period before a house can be demolished. Another tool is a Residential Floor Area Overlay district [RFA], a zoning tool to tailor citywide size and height development regulations to the particular needs of the community.
Several McMansions have already been built in the area.
“There are too many loopholes in current legislation,” Zecca said. These give developers far more than the 120 percent increase in the home’s square footage.
The Association’s request for the zoning will affect 1,600 properties between Wilshire Blvd. and San Vicente, Detroit St. to Orange Grove Ave.
Both Hixson and Zecca urged attendees to tell their neighbors of the plans to preserve the neighborhood. They seek a concerted effort to get the ball rolling.
For more information, go to the Miracle Mile Residential Association newsletter on the website at, www.miraclemilela.org.
Category: News
