Author: Martha Groves

Malibu has asked the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board to reconsider its Nov. 5 decision to prohibit septic systems in the coastal city’s civic center area, saying the ban’s broad scope makes it technically unfeasible.

After years of tussling with the city over water quality, the board adopted a septic prohibition encompassing about 550 residences and businesses. The ban awaits approval by the State Water Resources Control Board.

"The current plan leaves the city with a whole lot of treated water and nowhere to put it," City Manager Jim Thorsen said Tuesday in a statement.

Complying with the regional water board’s resolution, he said, would require the city to install an "ocean outfall" or to discharge treated water into the Malibu Creek aquifer. Either approach, he added, would face staunch opposition.

The city said recent scientific studies support the city’s conclusion that civic center septic systems, governed by strict rules regulating new systems, are not a significant source of groundwater contamination or a significant cause of reduced water quality in the ocean or Malibu Creek.

The city said it advocates a "community-based" wastewater treatment solution that would focus on homes and businesses closest to Malibu Creek.

Mark Gold, president of Heal the Bay, said his group opposed Malibu’s proposals to "voluntarily clean up their act."

"Enough is enough," he said. "Their cleanup actions must be legally required and include a moratorium with deadlines."

— Martha Groves

The Los Angeles City Council voted 9-2 Tuesday to approve the second and final phase of the Playa Vista development.

Phase 2, known as the Village, will add 2,800 homes, a shopping center, office buildings and parks to the community between the Westchester bluffs and Marina del Rey.

Councilman Bill Rosendahl, who represents the area, and Councilman Paul Koretz cast the dissenting votes on the second and final reading of the ordinance to approve the necessary zoning changes and a development agreement between the city and Playa Capital Co.

— Martha Groves

Shortly after the Los Angeles City Council voted Friday to approve the Playa Vista development’s second and final phase, a development executive criticized Councilman Bill Rosendahl for "vacillating" over the issue.

The council voted 12 to 2 to approve the plan, with Rosendahl, who represents the area, and Councilman Paul Koretz voting no.

After the council vote, Playa Vista President Steve Soboroff said Rosendahl had vacillated.

Soboroff said the councilman indicated Thursday that he would cast a “yes” vote in return for concessions by Playa Vista.

Soboroff said he agreed to those conditions — to add senior housing, to build retail as quickly as economically feasible and to build parks at the same time as other elements of the project. Just minutes before the council meeting, Rosendahl admitted to Soboroff that he had changed his mind and would vote no.

“It was a very difficult decision for me,” Rosendahl said. “I went back and forth and up and down.”

He said he made the decision Friday morning to honor his 2004 pledge to voters not to approve going forward with Phase 2 until the first phase was completed. Several commercial and retail buildings, he said, are still under construction or remain unoccupied.

Project opponents have said the project should include more green space.

Phase 2, known as the Village, will add 2,800 homes (including 200 for senior residents), a shopping center, office buildings and parks to the community between the Westchester bluffs and Marina del Rey.

Hundreds of Playa Vista residents showed up at City Hall wearing green lapel stickers stating "The Village yes!" Residents have been eager for a grocery store and other amenities that they expect to be part of the new development.

The council initially voted to approve Phase 2 in 2004, but opponents sued, saying the environmental analysis was flawed. Some opponents have vowed to continue their legal fight.

–Martha Groves and David Zahniser

The Los Angeles City Council voted Friday to approve the Playa Vista development’s second and final phase, over the objections of environmental groups and the local councilman.

The vote was 12-2 with Councilman Bill Rosendahl, who represents the area, and Councilman Paul Koretz saying no to further development that opponents say represents a "gift of entitlements" that would be 40 times what city rules allow. Opponents have said the project should include more green space.

Phase 2, known as the Village, will add 2,600 homes, a shopping center, office buildings and parks to the community between the Westchester bluffs and Marina del Rey. Hundreds of Playa Vista residents showed up at City Hall wearing green lapel stickers stating "The Village yes!" Residents have been eager for a grocery store and other amenities that they hope will be part of the new development.

The council initially voted to approve Phase 2 in 2004, but opponents sued, saying the environmental analysis was flawed. Some opponents have vowed to continue their legal fight.

Rosendahl said that despite his admiration for the Playa Vista community and its parks, he voted no to honor a pledge he had made to opponents when he ran for a council seat.

— David Zahniser and Martha Groves

The Los Angeles City Council on Friday approved a new city landmark — a Venice building that from 1958 to 1966 was a hangout for disciples of Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg and other Beat Generation pioneers who planted the seeds of L.A.’s counterculture movement.

At the time, the place was known as the Venice West Cafe.

Although the style of the building on Dudley Avenue near Ocean Front Walk is listed as "commercial vernacular" and the designer is unknown, the city Planning Department’s Office of Historic Resources said the spot had "social and cultural significance."

The building’s uses and tenants have evolved since the cafe closed in 1966. A restaurant called 5 Dudley gave way to Piccolo, an upscale eatery that recently expanded into the adjacent portion that had housed Venice West Cafe.

Alan Leib, a preservationist who helped submit the application, said in January that he envisioned eventually closing off the short stretch of Dudley Avenue as a pedestrian-friendly zone and creating a bohemian district with brick paving and period lampposts. Ideally, he said, he and others would re-create the Venice West Cafe.

— Martha Groves

Photo: The former Venice West Cafe. Credit: Gary Friedman / Los Angeles Times

The Malibu Community Library will close June 1 for a $5.7-million "green" renovation intended to qualify for certification under the Leadership in Environmental and Energy Design, or LEED, rating system developed by the U.S. Green Building Council, the city said Tuesday in a statement.

The renovation, scheduled for completion in September 2011, will be the city’s first project to meet the standards of sustainable design, construction and operation, the city said. During construction, library services will be available online and through a book mobile parked outside the existing library.

In partnership with Los Angeles County, the city will add an outdoor reading garden and patio connected by a walkway to Legacy Park, a city park and storm water treatment project slated to be completed later this year. Murals at the renovated library will recount Malibu’s history, and the library will feature modern skylights and energy-efficient windows.

The county provided $5.2 million for the project from Malibu’s library fees. The Malibu Library Task Force plans to raise the rest of the funds.

–Martha Groves

On Tuesday evening, Jimmy Delshad will officially become mayor of Beverly Hills. This will be his second turn as mayor, a job he held for a year beginning in March 2007. Delshad, 69, has served on the Beverly Hills City Council since 2003. The position of mayor rotates on the five-member council.

At an afternoon news conference, Delshad said he planned to focus on public safety and initiatives to make the city greener and more efficient, such as installing "smart" traffic lights and sprinklers.

Delshad, who was born in Shiraz, Iran, immigrated to the United States in 1959 as a teenager. After earning a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the University of Southern California, he started a career in computer technology. He went into business for himself in 1978 in the budding field of computer storage technology. From 1999 to 2001, Delshad served as president of Los Angeles’ Sinai Temple.

He and his wife, Lonnie Gerstein Delshad, have two children: Debra, a graduate of USC and Loyola Law School, and Daniel, a computer businessman who also graduated from USC.

— Martha Groves

Playa Vista’s 111-acre second phase, known as the Village, won approval from a key panel Tuesday, clearing the way for a vote by the full Los Angeles City Council on March 26.

The council’s Planning and Land Use Management committee voted 2 to 0 to deny an appeal challenging planners’ approval of the final phase. The Village first won council approval in 2004, but longtime opponents of the giant development filed a lawsuit alleging that the environmental analysis was flawed. The state’s 2nd District Court of Appeal agreed that the city should revise portions of the environmental impact report. The Planning Commission approved the revised EIR last December.

Hundreds of Playa Vista residents and labor representatives turned out to show support for the Village, which will add 2,600 homes, a shopping center, office buildings and parks. Playa Vista President Steve Soboroff agreed to convert some units to senior housing to satisfy a request by Councilman Bill Rosendahl, who represents the area, which is between the Westchester bluffs and Marina del Rey.

At a meeting last week, Playa Vista residents pushed Rosendahl to pledge his full support for the Village, but he spoke of wanting changes in the plan. Residents said the project should proceed as planned.

Rex Frankel, a Playa Vista opponent, said Rosendahl "is still on the fence."  He said the "showdown" will come at the March 26 council meeting.

— Martha Groves

Lauren Ashley, a Miss California USA contestant and outspoken opponent of same-sex marriage, claims Beverly Hills as the city she represents. Beverly Hills lays no claim to her whatsoever.

Quite the opposite. In a statement Wednesday, the city said it was shocked by Ashley’s description of herself as "Miss Beverly Hills." The city "does not sponsor a beauty pageant and has no association with Miss California USA," the statement said. "As such, there should be no individual claiming the title of Miss Beverly Hills."

The city’s statement said Ashley lives in Pasadena and "does not represent Beverly Hills in any capacity."

Ashley, 23, has been quoted extensively as saying same-sex marriage goes against God. She recently told news organizations that "in Leviticus it says, ‘If man lies with mankind as he would lie with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination. They shall surely be put to death and their blood shall be upon them.’ The Bible is pretty black and white."

"We are dismayed by any potential association with the city of Beverly Hills, which has a long history of tolerance and respect," Mayor Nancy Krasne said.

Ashley’s comments were made just months after former Miss California Carrie Prejean settled her legal duel with state beauty pageant organizers related to her high-profile stand against gay marriage.

Beverly Hills said it had contacted pageant officials to determine how to prevent any future beauty contestants from claiming the title of Miss Beverly Hills. The pageant is put on by K2 Productions in Los Angeles.

Ashley could not immediately be reached.

— Martha Groves

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Suspected skid row drug dealer arrested on gun, drug charges

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‘CSI Miami’ actress loses battle over security gate; she says she fears stalker

Santa Monica reported Monday a drop of 18.9% since last year in the number of people living on the streets or in shelters or institutions within the city.

The 2010 homeless count, conducted Jan. 27, indicated that 742 people were homeless: 264 living on the streets, 423 in shelters or institutions and 55 in cars or encampments.

The city attributed the reduction to better coordination of social services, new housing subsidies and rental assistance programs, and innovations such as a homeless community court and "Project Homecoming," which aims to put homeless people in touch with relatives or friends who could care for them.

The ACLU of Southern California filed suit against Santa Monica in July, alleging that the city had made it a crime to be homeless. The complaint said police routinely prod chronically homeless people to move to Venice, Culver City or downtown Los Angeles’ skid row.

"Santa Monica is effectively running a deportation program for the homeless," Mark Rosenbaum, the organization’s legal director, said at the time.

— Martha Groves in Santa Monica

Santa Monica’s arson task force is asking for the public’s help with its investigation of a series of suspicious fires this month involving parked vehicles, shrubbery and trash bins. From Feb. 12 to Monday, six arson incidents were reported within a two-block radius on 2nd and 3rd streets and Washington Avenue.

Anyone with information about those or other arson incidents should call Det. William Heric at (310) 458-8410, Sgt. Jay Trisler at (310) 458-8471 or the Santa Monica Police Department at (310) 458-8495. Those wishing to remain anonymous may call the WeTip hotline at (800) 472-7766.

Callers might be eligible for a reward if their information leads to an arrest and conviction.

— Martha Groves in Santa Monica

A memorial service for Victoria DeLong, 57, a career diplomat who was killed Jan. 12 when her house collapsed in the magnitude 7.0 earthquake in Haiti, will be held Saturday in Whittier, her hometown.

DeLong, a 27-year veteran of the U.S. Foreign Service, served as a cultural affairs officer at the U.S. Embassy in Port-au-Prince. Scheduled to attend the 1:30 p.m. service at Rose Hills Memorial Park are Ambassador Nancy J. Powell, director general of the Foreign Service, and Susan R. Johnson, president of the American Foreign Service Assn. in Washington.

In a Jan. 15 statement, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said DeLong "worked tirelessly to build bridges of understanding and respect between the people of the United States and the people of Haiti."

Thomas Switzer, a spokesman for the association, said at least six Foreign Service nationals died and 28 others are unaccounted for.

For information about the memorial, contact Rita Gima, DeLong’s sister, at (626) 826-6332 or [email protected]. Donations in DeLong’s name may be made to the Little Flower/Rose Mina orphanage in Port-au-Prince, where she volunteered. Online donations may be made through Partners in Progress.

[Update 11:41 a.m.: Switzer said at least six Foreign Service nationals died and 26 others are unaccounted for]

[Update 12:29 a.m. For information about the memorial, contact David Brown at Rose Hills in Whittier at (562) 699-0921.]

— Martha Groves

Photo: Victoria DeLong. Credit: U.S. State Department.

More breaking news in L.A. Now: 

Papadakis Taverna in San Pedro is nearing its last dance

Northbound 405 Freeway near Sepulveda Pass to be closed for construction

2 Mexican citizens indicted in boat capsizing deaths off Torrey Pines

L.A. chef to stand trial in slaying of popular waitress dumped in forest

Schwarzenegger faces tough choice: Release Manson follower from prison?

Officials raise fines for parking tickets, moving violations

Child porn suspect is found dead by FBI in Whittier

All lanes of the northbound 405 Freeway near the Sepulveda Pass will be closed from 1 a.m. to 6 a.m. Saturday as part of the freeway-widening project.

The lanes will be closed from Santa Monica Boulevard to Wilshire Boulevard.

Also Saturday, from 12:01 a.m. to 6 a.m., the westbound 10 Freeway connector to the northbound 405 Freeway will be closed.

Then, from 12:01 a.m. to 5 a.m. Tuesday through Friday, all lanes of the northbound 405 Freeway will be closed from Wilshire Boulevard to Moraga Drive.

For more information, visit the project website or call its hotline at (213) 922-3665.

— Martha Groves