Good news — the City Planning Commission felt too uncomfortable with the landlord’s record and behavior to approve the application just yet. (Congestion, parking, and fire safety were their secondary concerns.) They’ve asked the landlord and developers to present again on June 11. So, a small victory, but a victory nonetheless!

We’ve also spoken with Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martinez’s office, and he will not get involved in this issue; therefore, we do not support him in the upcoming election on June 2. We urge you to choose a different candidate. If you would like to write to Hugo and Emma Howard, his Community Development and Planning Director, to express your concerns, here are their emails. 

emma.howard@lacity.org
councilmember.soto-martinez@lacity.org

In the meantime, we need to keep the pressure on. At the last meeting, there was a Zoom link to participate, and many people spoke. When we receive the link for the June 11 meeting, we will share.

Thank you for your ongoing support,

Smart Growth Silver Lake

The City Planning Dept’s final review of the apartment development is on 8:30AM, THURSDAY 23 APRIL. We’ll be sending a delegation! The more voices, the better our chances: the City postponed the meeting to have more time to review our emails, so clearly our campaign is having an impact. Please add to the community tally if you can — every email makes a difference:

- Express your concerns to Marie Pichay (marie.pichay@lacity.org) at the Los Angeles City Planning Dept
- Cc Ted Walker, Councilman Soto-Martinez’s Planning Deputy, at ted.walker@lacity.org
- Cc us here at smartgrowthsilverlake@gmail.com so we can keep track
- Use Case Number CPC-2024-5534-DB-PR-VHCA to make sure it gets flagged in the system

Some frequent talking points (feel free to copy, paste, adjust, expand, etc):

- Landlord’s poor record (including lack of onsite manager, recent LAHD notification of 117 code violations, pandemic overcharging, etc)
- Hazardous construction will almost certainly force out existing tenants (i.e. “reno-viction”)
- Additional congestion (an extra 400 trips per day) will almost certainly block the hillside’s escape routes of India St and Brier St
- Application’s fire code issues will make fires more likely (in a Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone, very close to historic unsprinklered buildings, etc)
- Development will be dozens of parking spots short, pushing all residents further from their homes
- Building 2 parking levels in an earthquake liquefaction zone, under 5 stories of new construction, seems to be profound safety hazard

The developers dismissed every single one of these complaints, so NOW is the time to write to the City to make our voices heard for real!
 

The Hearing will take place at:
City Planning Commission
Van Nuys City Hall
Council Chamber, 2nd Floor
14410 Sylvan Street
Van Nuys, CA 91401

Feel free to reach out any time for support and suggestions. Let’s fight for smart growth, not greed, in Silver Lake.

Thank you,

Smart Growth Silver Lake

Developers want to add three new buildings (two 5-story, one 4-story) with 76 additional apartments on the Silver Lake Garden Apartments site (2421-2477 Silver Lake Blvd.), and excavate two underground levels for parking below buildings where people currently live.

As a local group of concerned apartment tenants and neighborhood homeowners, we feel this dangerous development will create unacceptable health and safety conditions. The requested waivers would create additional stories, tighter spacing between buildings, insufficient parking, and street-facing sidewalk dumpsters and transformers. This aggressive construction would endanger longtime residents and overwhelm our neighborhood. This project is way out of scale with the neighborhood, the site they are building on, and the infrastructure that it relies on (water, waste, etc.) from almost 100 years ago.

The Silver Lake Garden Apartments provide 48 rent-controlled apartments in a historic 1949 garden apartment community. The proposed development would:

• Build two 5-story towers and one 4-story building around existing occupied apartments with 76 new apartments, only 5 are 'low income'.
• Expect residents to live through 4+ years of construction inches from their homes
• Excavate two underground levels of parking while claiming no tenants will be displaced.
• All traffic from 156 units will enter and exit on Silver Lake Blvd.
• Will exacerbate the dangerous problems that already exist at the gridlocked intersections at Glendale Blvd., Fletcher Ave., and Riverside Blvd.
• Place dumpsters and transformers on the street side of the buildings.
• No plan for parking during construction for either current tenants or construction vehicles and equipment 

The property owners have already accumulated multiple citations for neglecting basic maintenance and overcharging rent-stabilized tenants.

PLEASE SIGN THE PETITION AND EMAIL YOUR CITY OFFICIALS, KAREN BASS AND HUGO SOTO-MARTINEZ! SEE OUR TEMPLATE BELOW THAT YOU CAN USE OR ADAPT.

Karen Bass's link: https://cityoflaprod.service-now.com/mcp?id=mcp_myr_pc

Email: councilmember.soto-martinez@lacity.org
CC:    ted.walker@lacity.org, karla.g.martinez@lacity.org, regina.mallare@lacity.org

Hugo’s office addresses and phone numbers:
District Office: 1722 Sunset Blvd, Echo Park, CA 90026, 213-207-3015
City Hall Office: 200 N Spring St, Suite 480, Los Angeles, CA 90012, 213-473-7013
 
Dear Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martinez,

I’m writing to voice my strong opposition to the proposed development at the Silver Lake Garden Apartments (2421-2477 Silver Lake Blvd.). The plan to add two five-story and one four-story buildings around seven existing two-story, occupied units would overwhelm our neighborhood and strain the already fragile 100-year-old infrastructure.

This proposal poses unacceptable safety risks. It would create choke points along key escape routes in a designated Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone. It would channel all traffic from 156 apartments onto one block of a narrow Grade F residential street, compounding neighborhood gridlock, including the especially problematic intersections of Glendale/Fletcher and Riverside/Fletcher. 

Also at play are numerous unresolved issues:

No clear plan for resident parking or construction staging during multi-year construction
Lack of plans for construction vehicle access during construction
Seven requested zoning code waivers that impact fire and safety 

The property owners have accumulated multiple complaints and/or citations about evictions, overcharging rent-controlled tenants, and neglecting basic maintenance. This pattern of behavior raises questions about their commitment to maintaining safe, legal housing practices. 

I urge you to reject this proposal until changes have been made that prioritize the safety of the existing tenants and the neighborhood. 

Sincerely, 

[Your name] [Your address] [Optional: How long have you lived in the neighborhood]