February 27, 2006

Contact:
Clare Sassoon (310) 403-0941
Judy Branfman (310) 486-2595

LINCOLN PLACE PROPOSAL GOES TO PLUM COMMITTEE TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 28

David and Goliath Story Takes a New Twist: Rosendahl and Six Other Councilmembers Tell City to Hold AIMCO to the Development Agreement They Made in 2002

WHERE: City Hall, Public Works Hearing Room #350

WHEN: PLUM Committee Meeting, Tuesday, February 28, 2006  - Meeting begins at 2 p.m.

WHAT: The City’s PLUM (Planning and Land Use) Committee will discuss the motion brought by Councilmember Rosendahl with Councilmembers Garcetti, Gruel, Hahn, Reyes, Smith, and Zine, to record the conditions, established by the City and Lincoln Place owners, of a 2002 tract map (VTT) for Lincoln Place. This agreement set out protections for Lincoln Place tenants, yet most of them have since been evicted.

Tenants, their supporters, and other community leaders will respond to the proceedings immediately after the meeting.

The Motion by Rosendahl reads in part:

“NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Department of Planning is hereby instructed to prepare and complete the appropriate documentation to record the conditions of approval of Tentative Tract Map 51337 (CF# 00-1979), requiring those conditions to remain “of record” unless and until AIMCO formally abandons its vested development rights, or they expire or are otherwise modified in accordance with the proper protocol and procedures of the City of Los Angeles; and

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Planning is hereby instructed to report back to the City Council if further action or instruction is required.”

What does “record the conditions” mean?

In 2002 the City gave Lincoln Place joint-owners AIMCO and Robert Bisno approval for new development plans based on certain “Conditions of Approval.”  This 19-page document includes, among other conditions, a guarantee no tenant will be evicted and sets guidelines for the number of affordable units for rent and sale. According to the Conditions, AIMCO is required to record a covenant at the County Recorders Office guaranteeing the conditions, which it has refused to do.

Please see what each Councilmember said about the idea of Rosendahl’s motion in the following article:
http://www.laweekly.com/news/12729/the-miseducation-of-bill-rosendahl/


AIMCO is gaming the system:

Shortly after the 2002 development agreement and tract map was approved, AIMCO bought out Bisno to become sole owner of Lincoln Place. AIMCO, one of largest and most powerful apartment complex-owning companies in the country, has refused to comply with the conditions. “Why hasn’t AIMCO recorded the conditions? Because they want to wait until they have removed all the tenants - and then get the city to delete the conditions when there are no tenants left to protect. In other words, AIMCO wants to break the promises it made to the City to get its project approved. The property is more valuable without tenants. The tenants in the remaining 81 occupied units could be evicted starting March 21,” said locked-out tenant Jan Book.

Venice speaks on the issues:

DeDe Audet, President of the Grass Roots Venice Neighborhood Council sent a letter to City officials and AIMCO, that stated in part: “On Thursday, November 17, 2005, the Board of GRVNC voted unanimously as follows: ... For City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo to communicate to ... AIMCO the City's demand that AIMCO keep the promise it made in the VTT to the tenants, our neighbors.  AIMCO promised in Vesting Tentative Tract Map 51337 ("the VTT") that no tenants would be evicted.We insist that AIMCO keep the promise it made when it proposed the VTT to the City and litigated to affirm its interest in the tract map in several courtrooms in Los Angeles. We understand that the VTT has been declared by an appellate court to be in force and its conditions compulsory, not ‘empty promises’ or ‘mere expressions of hope.’”

“The citizens of Los Angeles must be able to trust the City to enforce the conditions it attaches to development projects,” Lincoln Place Neighbor David Ewing said recently. “Any changes must be made in the light of day, in a public process, in cooperation rather than in conflict with our City.”

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© Lincoln Place Tenants Association
Email: info@lincolnplace.net