The Abbot Kinney Hotel project that we fought so hard to stop, back in 2014, has resurfaced as VENICE PLACE, and will now be heard by L.A. City Planning on Thurs. September 22 @ 9:30 am at WLA Municipal Building, 2nd Floor Hearing Room, 1645 Corinth Avenue, West Los Angeles.

Watch video of the VNC meeting Feb. 18, 2014 when this project was first heard by the community - including a presentation by hotel developer, Dan Abrams...

https://youtu.be/AeGBvxXasnk?list=PL856FD6334B141B68

...And, as it happens, Westminster Elementary School is located at 1010 Abbot Kinney Blvd, Venice, DIRECTLY ACROSS the street from the location of this proposed 80-room hotel with 200+ restaurant seats, 2,534 sq ft of ground floor retail space, a 1,735 sq ft spa, 3,371 sq ft of office space! 

And that's just the tip of the iceberg....

We MUST STOP this development!.  Here's why:

- Abbot Kinney Blvd. is a main thoroughfare with a traffic flow of up to 10,000 vehicles a day.  Traffic is especially heavy from 7:30 am - 8 am and 2:30 pm - 6 pm, just when children are arriving and departing to and from the school campus.  The project is estimated to generate at least 688 more car trips per day on this already gridlocked street!

-  The specific traffic impact of the project, per the Mitigated Negative Declaration is increased by 545%, creating dangerous conditions for children and their parents walking to and from school, crossing Abbot Kinney Blvd., Electric Ave., Brooks Ave.  This HUGE increase in traffic will endanger children, pedestrians and bike riders, alike.

- There's just NOT enough parking!  At capacity (and esp. during special events), 167 parking spaces is NOT enough for this 80-room hotel, 200+ restaurant seats, 2,534 sq ft of ground floor retail space, a 1,735 sq ft spa, 3,371 sq ft of office space, and all the development's employees!

- The developer seeks to tie EIGHT (8) LOTS together, setting a DANGEROUS precedent for future development, since in the Venice Specific Plan, the current number of lots allowed to be consolidated are THREE (3)!  The developer apparently hopes to get around this by separating the buildings along existing lot lines (but connected by catwalks which are only accessible through the buildings).

- The developer is seeking approval for a full line of ALCOHOL for ON-SITE & OFF-SITE consumption operating 7:00 am to 1:00 am, provided in the hotel rooms' liquor cabinets, by room service, and through the hotel lobby, outdoor courtyard, hotel lounges, and hotel business center!

- The hotel will, thus, be serving ALCOHOL -- directly OPPOSITE Westminster elementary SCHOOL from 7 am - 1:00 am daily, and could well become a haven for predators, to observe and stake out our school CHILDREN!!!

- The development will SIGNIFICANTLY increase traffic. The one traffic study seen states the project will generate 688 NEW CAR TRIPS a day. Much of this traffic will end up on Abbot Kinney Blvd., but ALL of it will originate at Electric Ave, where the parking garage entrance is located, causing GRIDLOCK at peak times on Electric Ave. and on surface streets in Oakwood. And unlike other recent retail/residential projects on Abbot Kinney, the hotel will be OPEN 24 hours a day, bringing with it TRAFFIC very late at night and early in the morning.

- By adding 4 "apartments", it appears the developer is trying to create the illusion of a mixed-use residential/commercial development, rather than strictly commercial.

- The project has INADEQUATE off-street loading - a MERE 600 sq. ft. off-street commercial loading area off Broadway! It’s way too small for such a HUGE COMMERCIAL OPERATION. Additionally, there will be only TWO (2) on-street loading areas, also on Broadway.  Even now, with only a couple of restaurants currently operating on site, loading and garbage collection often partially or completely BLOCKS Broadway Ave.

Let’s make sure our voices are heard and our presence is felt. COME TO THE ZA PLANNING HEARING THURS SEPT. 22, 9:30 a.m. West Los Angeles Municipal Building -- 2ND Floor Hearing Room. 1645 Corinth Avenue, WLA

 If you CAN or CANNOT attend PLS SIGN THIS PETITION TO SEND AN EMAIL to City Planner, Juliet Oh, and Councilman Mike Bonin telling them "NO WAY!"