Congress has cut federal funding for public media — a $3.4 million loss for LAist. We count on readers like you to protect our nonprofit newsroom. Become a monthly member and sustain local journalism.
This is an archival story that predates current editorial management.
This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.
Target Husk Still In Limbo As City Tries To Change Laws To Get It Finished
The Target was ordered to halt construction over a year ago (Photo via Target Husk)
()
While everyone's favorite Target Husk—the one lording over Sunset and Western in East Hollywood—stands accruing graffiti tags and rust (do Targets rust?), city planners have been hard at work trying to figure out how to see the development completed.
This includes, among other things, fundamentally rewriting the city planning documents that govern development on that particular block. Last November, the Planning and Land Use Management Committee announced a recommendation that the City Council amend the Station Area Neighborhood Plan to include higher height-limits. LAist was present at a public comment meeting where East Hollywood Residents weighed in on the Target. While a majority supported the construction, several residents also argued it was irresponsible development.
While the City Council was going to vote on it then, the decision was postponed pending another conflict over a required child-care center, according to the Los Angeles Times.
The city's Planning Commission voted last November to require that Target provide a nearly 4,000-square-foot child care-center within a mile of the development. Supporting child care is required under city planning law businesses over a certain size. Target Corporation said this was absolutely impractical, but did say that they would be willing to contribute roughly $400,000 to support child-care in the area.
Support for LAist comes from
In 2014, a court ruling ordered the development's construction halted. A lawsuit filed by the La Mirada Homeowner's Association—argued by notable land-use attorney Robert P. Silverstein—pointed out the City Council violated height limits in the neighborhood. Where the Husk stands 74-feet-tall, it stands on a block with a 35-foot height limit as established by the neighborhood's planning documents.
But aside from the height limits, the proposed Target also failed to meet certain requirements for parking—it didn't have enough—nor did it adequately support local centers for child-care.
Obviously this is still a mess. And it doesn't get better when you consider that the litigious-happy La Mirada Homeowners Association is still around, waiting for the city to make significant action before probably suing again.
If the city does officially modify the Station Area Neighborhood Plan, you can practically hear Silverstein's opening statement, on behalf of the La Mirada Homeowners Association, as he argues the city failed to conduct proper environmental review before modifying the plan.
As Doug Haines, a member of the Association said to the Times, "Instead of reconfiguring the building to conform with the law, they're trying to reconfigure the law to conform to the buildings."
As Editor-in-Chief of our newsroom, I’m extremely proud of the work our top-notch journalists are doing here at LAist. We’re doing more hard-hitting watchdog journalism than ever before — powerful reporting on the economy, elections, climate and the homelessness crisis that is making a difference in your lives. At the same time, it’s never been more difficult to maintain a paywall-free, independent news source that informs, inspires, and engages everyone.
Simply put, we cannot do this essential work without your help. Federal funding for public media has been clawed back by Congress and that means LAist has lost $3.4 million in federal funding over the next two years. So we’re asking for your help. LAist has been there for you and we’re asking you to be here for us.
We rely on donations from readers like you to stay independent, which keeps our nonprofit newsroom strong and accountable to you.
No matter where you stand on the political spectrum, press freedom is at the core of keeping our nation free and fair. And as the landscape of free press changes, LAist will remain a voice you know and trust, but the amount of reader support we receive will help determine how strong of a newsroom we are going forward to cover the important news from our community.
Please take action today to support your trusted source for local news with a donation that makes sense for your budget.
Thank you for your generous support and believing in independent news.
Chip in now to fund your local journalism
(
LAist
)
Trending on LAist
-
With less to prove than LA, the city is becoming a center of impressive culinary creativity. -
Nearly 470 sections of guardrailing were stolen in the last fiscal year in L.A. and Ventura counties.
-
Monarch butterflies are on a path to extinction, but there is a way to support them — and maybe see them in your own yard — by planting milkweed.
-
With California voters facing a decision on redistricting this November, Surf City is poised to join the brewing battle over Congressional voting districts.
-
The drug dealer, the last of five defendants to plead guilty to federal charges linked to the 'Friends' actor’s death, will face a maximum sentence of 65 years in prison.
-
The weather’s been a little different lately, with humidity, isolated rain and wind gusts throughout much of Southern California. What’s causing the late-summer bout of gray?
Best of LAist