Tweet
Los Angeles Daily News, CA
July 13 2013
Encino parents allege 'land grab' in firehouse lease to Armenian group
By Dana Bartholomew
Parents and principals at Encino Charter Elementary school had long
hoped to obtain an abandoned former firehouse next door to add an
indoor gym and lunchroom and solve a dire parking shortage and
dangerous student drop-off lane.
Only supporters were shocked to read a news report last spring that
Los Angeles had agreed to lease its old Fire Station 83 for use as an
Armenian cultural center. The price: $1 a year for half a century.
"It's basically a land grab," said Lisa Becker, a parent and board
member of the Parent Teacher Organization at the LAUSD affiliated
charter school. "How the city can justify giving them that property
for $1 is beyond me.
"A child's safety should never be trumped by politics."
Since the city agreed to lease its vacant firehouse to the Armenian
Cultural Foundation in May, a rising tide of residents and San
Fernando Valley neighborhood groups have united against a deal they
say was hatched in a back room without community input.
A petition to block the lease, Becker said, has raised more than 600
signatures. Meanwhile, tempers have reportedly flared between ethnic
Armenian supporters of the deal and opponents at a recent neighborhood
council meeting.
City officials, in turn, defend a deal they say is not yet a done.
Their motion, launched by Councilman Paul Koretz and supported by
then-Councilmen Eric Garcetti and Councilman Paul Krekorian backed by
a unanimous vote by the City Council, had seemed simple enough.
The 65-year-old former fire station at 5001 Balboa Blvd. had been
vacant seven years, drawing vagrants and graffiti and falling prey to
vandalism, copper wire theft and garbage dumps.
The surplus city property was offered to other city agencies as
required by law, city officials said, but had no takers despite
nibbles by the fire and parks departments, with the latter once vowing
to hold a community meeting.
Encino elementary school officials say they had urged the Los Angeles
Unified School District to buy the land, but it only offered to lease
the parking lot, city officials say.
Despite offers from developers hoping to turn old Fire Station 83 into
condos, city officials hoped to convert it to "community use," such as
a partnership lease to a nonprofit.
The nonprofit Armenian Cultural Foundation had offered to sink at
least $1 million into fixing up the 5,150 square-foot firehouse for
cultural events and activities geared from students to seniors. In
return, the city would could banish the Balboa Boulevard blight while
getting free building improvements and decades of free services for
the community.
"There was an organization that, in good faith, made a proposal when
no other organization came forward "¦ with a community center proposal
that seemed promising," said Paul Michael Neuman, spokesman for
Koretz, whose district encompasses the station.
Backlash to the proposal was swift. Neighborhood critics cried foul,
saying the cultural center proposal was never discussed with hundreds
of nearby residents, homeowner groups or an Encino Neighborhood
Council charged with advising the city on land-use plans.
The exception was Talar Dardarian, the Armenian chair of the
neighborhood council land-use and planning committee. She had urged
Koretz in a letter to approve the firehouse deal -- but failed to
bring it to the attention of her committee.
Dardarian explained she was ill, and could not respond to a request
for comment. The Armenian Cultural Foundation did not return a call.
"We were very unhappy to see the back-room deal, where this valuable
property was leased to a nonprofit group without any public exposure,
input, or comment," said Gerald A. Silver, president of Homeowners of
Encino. "It smacks of insider trading."
The Encino Neighborhood Council also passed a motion after the city
vote saying it disapproved of "manner, circumstances and terms of the
lease," while recommending the city consider other options for its
former fire station.
At issue, critics say, is a cultural center that could draw traffic
into an Encino neighborhood slated to soon grow by 100 condos. More
important, they say, are the needs of 97-year-old Encino Charter
Elementary School that occupies much of the block behind the
firehouse.
During late summer months, students must eat outside or play on
sweltering blacktop, officials say. Throughout the school year,
parking is a nightmare for 60 teachers and staff vying for 22 spots.
Worse, parents must drop their 575 children off in a public street in
a makeshift zone along the school, where they compete with commuters
scrambling to get to work.
The firehouse property would create a safe drop-off and pickup zone,
Becker added, while providing a badly needed multipurpose room. "They
could build their cultural center anywhere," she said. "We can't" move
a school.
Community pressure may have caused the city to reconsider its plans.
The motion, which passed May 10, directed the city to negotiate a
lease with the Armenian Cultural Foundation within 60 days. To date,
city officials say, no offer has been forthcoming, no lease drawn up,
nothing signed.
It now appears Los Angeles may be considering ways to split its baby
-- to encourage a joint-use between the cultural center and the
school. Neuman said Koretz office is planning a site tour soon between
officials from the school, cultural center and residents.
http://www.dailynews.com/sports/ci_23652202/encino-parents-allege-land-grab-firehouse-lease-armenian
July 13 2013
Encino parents allege 'land grab' in firehouse lease to Armenian group
By Dana Bartholomew
Parents and principals at Encino Charter Elementary school had long
hoped to obtain an abandoned former firehouse next door to add an
indoor gym and lunchroom and solve a dire parking shortage and
dangerous student drop-off lane.
Only supporters were shocked to read a news report last spring that
Los Angeles had agreed to lease its old Fire Station 83 for use as an
Armenian cultural center. The price: $1 a year for half a century.
"It's basically a land grab," said Lisa Becker, a parent and board
member of the Parent Teacher Organization at the LAUSD affiliated
charter school. "How the city can justify giving them that property
for $1 is beyond me.
"A child's safety should never be trumped by politics."
Since the city agreed to lease its vacant firehouse to the Armenian
Cultural Foundation in May, a rising tide of residents and San
Fernando Valley neighborhood groups have united against a deal they
say was hatched in a back room without community input.
A petition to block the lease, Becker said, has raised more than 600
signatures. Meanwhile, tempers have reportedly flared between ethnic
Armenian supporters of the deal and opponents at a recent neighborhood
council meeting.
City officials, in turn, defend a deal they say is not yet a done.
Their motion, launched by Councilman Paul Koretz and supported by
then-Councilmen Eric Garcetti and Councilman Paul Krekorian backed by
a unanimous vote by the City Council, had seemed simple enough.
The 65-year-old former fire station at 5001 Balboa Blvd. had been
vacant seven years, drawing vagrants and graffiti and falling prey to
vandalism, copper wire theft and garbage dumps.
The surplus city property was offered to other city agencies as
required by law, city officials said, but had no takers despite
nibbles by the fire and parks departments, with the latter once vowing
to hold a community meeting.
Encino elementary school officials say they had urged the Los Angeles
Unified School District to buy the land, but it only offered to lease
the parking lot, city officials say.
Despite offers from developers hoping to turn old Fire Station 83 into
condos, city officials hoped to convert it to "community use," such as
a partnership lease to a nonprofit.
The nonprofit Armenian Cultural Foundation had offered to sink at
least $1 million into fixing up the 5,150 square-foot firehouse for
cultural events and activities geared from students to seniors. In
return, the city would could banish the Balboa Boulevard blight while
getting free building improvements and decades of free services for
the community.
"There was an organization that, in good faith, made a proposal when
no other organization came forward "¦ with a community center proposal
that seemed promising," said Paul Michael Neuman, spokesman for
Koretz, whose district encompasses the station.
Backlash to the proposal was swift. Neighborhood critics cried foul,
saying the cultural center proposal was never discussed with hundreds
of nearby residents, homeowner groups or an Encino Neighborhood
Council charged with advising the city on land-use plans.
The exception was Talar Dardarian, the Armenian chair of the
neighborhood council land-use and planning committee. She had urged
Koretz in a letter to approve the firehouse deal -- but failed to
bring it to the attention of her committee.
Dardarian explained she was ill, and could not respond to a request
for comment. The Armenian Cultural Foundation did not return a call.
"We were very unhappy to see the back-room deal, where this valuable
property was leased to a nonprofit group without any public exposure,
input, or comment," said Gerald A. Silver, president of Homeowners of
Encino. "It smacks of insider trading."
The Encino Neighborhood Council also passed a motion after the city
vote saying it disapproved of "manner, circumstances and terms of the
lease," while recommending the city consider other options for its
former fire station.
At issue, critics say, is a cultural center that could draw traffic
into an Encino neighborhood slated to soon grow by 100 condos. More
important, they say, are the needs of 97-year-old Encino Charter
Elementary School that occupies much of the block behind the
firehouse.
During late summer months, students must eat outside or play on
sweltering blacktop, officials say. Throughout the school year,
parking is a nightmare for 60 teachers and staff vying for 22 spots.
Worse, parents must drop their 575 children off in a public street in
a makeshift zone along the school, where they compete with commuters
scrambling to get to work.
The firehouse property would create a safe drop-off and pickup zone,
Becker added, while providing a badly needed multipurpose room. "They
could build their cultural center anywhere," she said. "We can't" move
a school.
Community pressure may have caused the city to reconsider its plans.
The motion, which passed May 10, directed the city to negotiate a
lease with the Armenian Cultural Foundation within 60 days. To date,
city officials say, no offer has been forthcoming, no lease drawn up,
nothing signed.
It now appears Los Angeles may be considering ways to split its baby
-- to encourage a joint-use between the cultural center and the
school. Neuman said Koretz office is planning a site tour soon between
officials from the school, cultural center and residents.
http://www.dailynews.com/sports/ci_23652202/encino-parents-allege-land-grab-firehouse-lease-armenian