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]