BAA wins one for the community! West LA Planning Commission denies Appeal for a third kitchen for Nile Niami’s 944 Airole Way project
On Wednesday, the West LA Planning Commission denied developer Nile Niami's (Crestlloyd LLC) Appeal to add a third kitchen in his speculatively-built 96,000 square foot structure at 944 Airole Way. The BAA would like to thank the Bel-Air residents who spoke before the Commissioners about their concerns of the structure that claims to be a “single family dwelling” yet is built to function as an entertainment and event facility that includes five swimming pools and a casino.
Faisal Alserri, Senior Planning Deputy of Councilmember Koretz’s office stated Councilmember Koretz has been working collaboratively with the Bel-Air community citing the passage of the Bel-Air Overlay that now requires site plan reviews for all homes over 17,500 square feet to ensure that projects are meant to be single family dwellings and not commercial-size event facilities. He added that some developers for these projects have advertised usage of these projects as private casinos, event venues, conference space, and other commercial-style uses that are not compatible for single family residential areas.
To address Bel-Air's community's concerns, Mr. Alserri stated Councilmember Koretz, has co-introduced a Motion, with Councilmember David Ryu, to look at “party houses,” and that Motion is under review by the Los Angeles Police Commission, the Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety, as well as the City Attorney’s office. "It is the intention to have a stronger mechanism in place to deal with the problem of party houses in a residential community." He added, "There is a difference between a ‘house' that is hosting an event verses a ‘structure' that is built to accommodate events. We do not want to encourage the building of structures for events.”
For a copy of the Zoning Administrator’s Determination, click here.
Click here for the Party House Motion (CF12-1824-S1).
Click here to see CityWatch article on LA’s Party House “Industry”
