INSIDE SCOOP
COMMENTARY
LOCAL
ASSESSMENT BREEDS UNCERTAINTY PAGE 3 OVER THE HILL AND UNHAPPY PAGE 5 A DAY IN THE LIFE PAGE 10
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2008
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Volume 7 Issue 81
Santa Monica Daily Press
RAINN IN SANTA MONICA SEE PAGE 12
Since 2001: A news odyssey
THE LOVE IS IN THE AIR ISSUE
Complaint won’t halt condo plan BY MELODY HANATANI Daily Press Staff Writer
MID-CITY A proposal to construct condominiums at the site
bride while she was hospitalized, an act that Phyllis said made her realize just how much Al loved her. On April 3, 1949, Al and Phyllis got married at a wedding chapel off the Sunset Strip and spent their honeymoon at the Fairmont Miramar Hotel. “I thought he was good marriage material,” Phyllis said. The couple spent the next 43 years raising a family in North Hollywood, a family that included three children — Andy, a news cameraman for KCBS, Janet, a nurse in Minneapolis and David, a city planner in a Los Angeles area city. In the early 1990s, Al retired from his job as a salesman and Phyllis from Kaiser Permanente. The two have been volunteering for various local organizations since then, including the Santa Monica Police Department and Wise & Healthy
of a former convalescent home got the green light from City Council on Tuesday night, shooting down an appeal filed under the grounds that the developer circumvented the public input process by making a death threat against a project opponent. The council’s denial of the appeal paves the way for the developer to begin constructing a more than 27,000 square foot, 19-unit condominium complex at 1433-37 14th St., which up until November of last year was the Crescent Bay Convalescent Hospital. The property owner — 1433-1437 14th Street LLC — is proposing to demolish the convalescent home and in its place, erect a three-story, 35-foot tall condominium project that will include a combination of two- and three-bedroom units as well as townhouse-style units. Below the units will be a 42-space partially subterranean parking garage. The centerpiece of the condominium will be a central courtyard, housing a fountain and serving as a common space for occupants. The proposal has undergone various changes since it was introduced before the Planning Commission in June, most of which have resulted in the reduction of the size and mass of the project relative to the surrounding buildings, an issue that was noted in the appeal. “The project has gone through many iterations to get to a point supportive of the Planning Commission as well as staff,” city Planning and Community Development Director Eileen Fogarty said at the council meeting. The Planning Commission approved development permits at its meeting in October and that decision was later appealed by neighbor Elaine Antonio, contending that the proposed project is too large for the neighborhood and would only aggravate traffic and create a bottleneck in an adjoining alley. Antonio also stated in the appeal that there is a need to continue the operation of the convalescent facility because of the loss of such care facilities for the elderly. The Planning Commission is currently conducting a study of convalescent homes in Santa Monica, according to City Councilmember Kevin McKeown. But it was the alleged threat that took center stage during the public hearing. Antonio claimed that after a neighbor had submitted a letter to the city planning office opposing the project, a strange man who identified himself as the developer con-
SEE LOVE PAGE 12
SEE THREAT PAGE 11
Alexis Hawkins news@smdp.com
TRUE LOVE: Al and Phyllis Weintraud, married for 58 years, sit poolside outside of their apartment at The Shores on Nielson Way.
Together, forever Local couple proves that marriage can stand the test of time BY MELODY HANATANI Daily Press Staff Writer
OCEAN PARK Every night before dinner time, Al and Phyllis Weintraub sit out on their beach-facing balcony and enjoy a glass of wine, savoring the beauty of the sunset and the comfort of one another’s company, discussing anything that comes to mind. Communication — it’s been the key to the success of this Santa Monica couple’s 58-year blissful marriage. Though filled with its ups and downs, surviving illnesses and financial hurdles, their bond has remained intact. “We’re the best thing that’s happened to each other,” Phyllis, 79, said during an interview recently at the couple’s home in Ocean Park. Their romantic history dates back to 1947 when the couple met on a blind date, arranged by Al's mother after she had learned about a “nice girl” who had moved into a friend’s apartment building in West Los
Angeles. Phyllis and her family had moved to the Los Angeles area from New York to follow her father, whose business was based in Southern California but had been traveling the past year, coast to coast. Surprisingly, there were no magical sparks, no love at first sight kind of fuzzy feeling during that first date. It was instead a casual meeting between two strangers who went on a double date to the movies, followed by dinner. “It was an expensive restaurant and she picked the cheapest thing on the menu,” Al, 85, joked of the first date. While the chemistry just wasn’t there during the first date, sparks slowly started to fly as Al and Phyllis continued seeing one another, Al, growing attracted to her intelligence and wit, and Phyllis, drawn to his kindness. “The more I got to know her, the more I liked her,” he said. It wasn’t long before Al popped the question, proposing to his future
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