The WeHo Heights Neighborhood Association filed a formal appeal with the City Council asking it to overturn the Planning Commission’s 6-1 vote approving a six-story apartment building at 8760 Shoreham Drive.
Barry Z. Scott filed the appeal on behalf of WeHo Heights. The commission voted back on May 21 to approve. Commissioners raised concerns about fire safety, parking, and affordable housing at the hearing but voted yes anyway, citing their now standard reason being their hands are tied by Sacramento. Commissioner Lynn Hoopingarner was the lone no vote, saying “we deserve better.”
The appeal wants the Council to reverse that vote and order a full Environmental Impact Report before the project goes any further.
The property is in a Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone north of Sunset Boulevard. The appeal argues evacuation routes are already too constrained to handle additional density. Los Angeles and Beverly Hills have paused similar high-density approvals in fire zones, the appeal states. West Hollywood didn’t. Research shows the picture is more nuanced: Beverly Hills added a review requirement for certain projects in fire hazard zones, and Los Angeles limited some approvals specifically in the Palisades and Eaton fire burn scar areas, but neither city enacted a blanket pause on all high-density development in fire zones.
Hoopingarner tried to say the same thing from the dais. “I do not make the finding that this project does not present a safety hazard to our neighbors, when all it will take is one UPS, Amazon, FedEx, DHL, or moving van to block both emergency access and resident egress on this very narrow street,” she said. 
The Hollywood Fault runs nearby. The appeal says the City never required geological or geotechnical studies to look at landslide and collapse risks to neighboring properties. There’s also a high water table on the site. No independent geological evaluation of that was ever presented, the appeal says.
The neighborhood only has two ways in and out, Shoreham Drive at Sunset and Horn Avenue at Sunset. Laura Meltzer lives directly across from the project. She told the commission in May the streets can’t handle it. “In the event of a fire, people getting in their cars on a very narrow street, it becomes a nightmare,” Meltzer said. “Horn is effectively one lane between Shoreham and Sunset, because of the diagonal parking.”
The project has 23 parking spaces for 22 apartments. Chair David Gregoire said he wasn’t sold on the parking math either. “I do question sometimes the financial viability of any of these luxury units that don’t have adequate parking,” he said. He voted to approve anyway.
The appeal also accuses the developer of exploiting affordable housing loopholes. It points to a nearby property the developer previously acquired under the guise of senior housing, then sold to the City, wiping out the promised affordable units. Only three of the 22 units in this project are reserved as affordable. Hoopingarner said five unprogrammed amenity spaces would eventually become market-rate units, pushing the affordable percentage even lower. “That’s five additional luxury units that combined are gonna be renting for about $40,000 a month,” she said.
A January 28 virtual neighborhood meeting WEHOonline covered is also in the appeal. Residents alleged the developer’s consulting group censored and muted people who voiced opposition. The Planning Commission didn’t address those written complaints, the appeal states.
The appeal also asks that no demolition happen until the project has full approval and financing secured.
“We are not anti-housing; we are pro-safety and pro-responsibility,” said Elyse Eisenberg, chair of the WeHo Heights Neighborhood Association. “The Planning Commission approved a massive, dense structure in a high-risk hillside zone without fully accounting for how it alters the subterranean water flow or how it impacts our ability to evacuate safely during a fire. We are asking the City Council to look at the hard data, honor the new safety codes, and protect the people who already live here.”
Shoreham Capital L.P. has owned the property since 2003. Brandon Zavala of Afriat Consulting Group represents the applicant. Zavala said at the May hearing that construction is expected to take 18 to 24 months.
A City Council hearing date hasn’t been set.
This article is factually incorrect. LA and Beverly Hills have not stopped approving projects in VHFHSZ. Why this article would claim that is beyond me.
We should’ve been more clear — the claim is not ours — it is made in the appeal.