West Hollywood OKs Senior Apartments

Plans to build a $4.2-million apartment building for seniors on a historic Colonial-style estate in West Hollywood won tentative approval from the City Council Monday night.

About 200 people filled the auditorium in West Hollywood Park, more than half of whom were seniors brought by the West Hollywood Community Housing Corp., one of the would-be developers of the project. About 70 people addressed the council before the vote.The project still requires environmental and traffic studies, followed by further public hearings, before a final council vote.

Opponents of the plan argued that redevelopment of the wooded estate they call “Tara” would betray the woman who gave the property to the city thinking it would be maintained as a cultural resource.

Elsie Weisman, who died in 2000 at age 101, donated the property only after the city blocked her family from developing the Laurel Avenue site into an apartment complex.

The nearly 2/3-acre property was designated a historic landmark in 1994, stopping her son Richard Weisman’s plans to build a 55-unit apartment building at the site. Instead, Elsie Weisman turned the property -- one of the last such estates in West Hollywood -- over to the city in 1997 in exchange for tax benefits and the right to live the remainder of her life there.

Now, the city has developed its own plans to build apartments using a grant from the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development to provide 35 units for low-income senior citizens.

Plans call for a three-story building to be erected around Weisman’s house, while her two-story house would be turned into a common area for tenants and a meeting place. A corner of the frontyard would be turned into a public “pocket park.”

Critics contend that the project would destroy the only large estate to survive from West Hollywood’s orchard era. The house was built in 1915 and surrounded by 66 trees and 44 tropical shrubs.

City redevelopment officials say the apartments would provide much needed affordable housing to seniors in West Hollywood, although federal rules require units be made available by lottery to eligible seniors citizens across the country.

Norman Charmoff, 52, of West Hollywood said the corporation had hired him to find seniors who support the development. They met at Plummer Park for the trip to the City Council meeting, and the corporation supplied sandwiches and signs that read, “I vote for affordable housing.”

One of those seniors, Sofia Komskaya, 72, of West Hollywood told the council, “I don’t think people understand how difficult it is for seniors on a fixed income. In their case, affordable housing can really save lives ... and mean the difference between dignified life and miserable existence.”

The vote on the development was 3-1, with one abstention. Voting in favor were Mayor John Duran and council members Abbe Land and John Heilman. Councilman Jeffrey Prang voted against, and Councilman Sal Guarriello abstained.