INSIDE SCOOP
COMMENTARY
PARENTING
MALIBU PICKS THROUGH THE ASHES PAGE 3 TIME FOR SOME ACTION PAGE 5 SANTA GETS LIABILITY PAGE 8
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2007
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Volume 7 Issue 13
Santa Monica Daily Press A NEW LOVE FOR SIR PAUL? SEE PAGE 15
Since 2001: A news odyssey
THE LEAVING JAPAN ISSUE
TRANSPORTATION
RESTRICTED AIRSPACE City Council is expected to make the airport off-limits to larger jet aircraft STORY BY KEVIN HERRERA PAGE 12
Brandon Wise news@smdp.com
Council mulls landmarks designation BY MELODY HANATANI Daily Press Staff Writer
CITY HALL The fate of a 71-year-old oceanfront apartment complex — its survival the source of contention between tenants and the property’s owner — lies in the hands of the City Council tonight. After more than a year of delays, the council is finally expected to hear a petition to appeal the landmarking designation of a 1930s era courtyard apartment north of Montana
Avenue, located at 423-431 Ocean Ave. The Landmarks Commission designated the apartment complex a historic landmark in October 2006 in the face of opposition from the property owner, Harry Wu, who argued the building does not possess any significance that would cause it to be eligible for designation, adding that it does not meet any of the six criteria required for landmarking. The commission based its designation on four of the six criteria, finding most notably that the building was designed by
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well-known Santa Monica architect William E. Foster — who created the Shangri-La Hotel — and the complex exemplifies the city’s architectural history, constructed during the second wave of residential development along Ocean Avenue from the 1930s to the 1950s, a time when the street was taken over by multi-family apartments. “It had numerous high quality details that were still intact like leaded glass windows and Georgian Colonial detailing,” said commission Chairwoman Nina Fresco, explaining
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some of the reasons why the commission decided to landmark the building. City staff is recommending the council uphold the landmark designation and deny Wu’s appeal. Wu challenged the landmark designation and filed an appeal on Oct. 18, 2006. A public hearing before the City Council was postponed repeatedly until today. Attorney Toy Fields, who is representing Wu, did not SEE APARTMENT PAGE 13
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