October Is Breast Cancer Awareness Month - Donate For A Cure
VOLUME: LIV
NUMBER 41
www.bhcourier.com
SINCE 1965
BYE BYE, BYRON — Byron Pope at his retirement celebration Wednesday at Greystone Mansion stands amidst what he terms as “a small part of the Southern California Pope Family along with their spouses.” Pope added: “My father was one of eight children. There are three living uncles and two living aunts in their late 70s and 80s. Half of the ‘Pope Clan’ lives in California and the other half still reside in Louisiana. My dad’s family hails from Ringgold, Louisiana.” For more photos from Wednesday’s ceremony, see page 2.
Beverly Hills High honored its National Merit commended students. 4
Seven-year-old Harper is this issue’s Adoptable Pet of the Week. 4
New York Times bestselling author Doris Kearns shares lessons in leadership. 17 •Sports •Birthdays •Letters to the Editor
15 18 27
George Christy, Page 6 High Tea With Lilly Tartikoff Karatz And Her MOCA Teen Program Members At Lilly’s BelAir Residence Netted Funds From The Sale Of Vhernier Jewelry To Support Young People To Be Indoctrinated Into The World Of Contemporary Art
CLASSIFIEDS • Announcements • Real Estate • Rentals • Sales • and More
21
Byron Allen’s Calle Vista Project To Be Reviewed De Novo By City Council Dec. 11 By Victoria Talbot The City Council voted unanimously to call up the project at 1115 Calle Vista Drive Tuesday for a de novo hearing on approvals for three R-1 permits. Despite his comments to the contrary, media tycoon Byron Allen’s massive project actually flew through the planning process with a multitude of complex issues. The project was submitted in November 2017, just in time to be included in a pipeline grandfathering that allowed Allen to be exempted from the Hillside Ordinance. A project of this size, that is this complicated, can take years, according to several reports on the process made at City Council last year. But in less than one year, a project that began with a structure that was too big for the lot according to the Hillside Ordinance of 1995, was approved on Sept. 13. Allen purchased the property in 2012. He waited five years before presenting his plans to the City staff. The existing structure, which is on a lot approximately 1.1 acre in size, exceeds the 30-foot
height restriction at 31 feet, nine inches. It does not comply with setbacks and is located approximately 85 feet – 125 feet from the nearest residences. The existing 13,232 square foot residence is nonconforming; the allowable maximum floor area (FAR) for the lot size is 10,861 square feet. Thus, the existing house is already too big for the lot, according to the City’s ordinances. Nonetheless, the proposed project nearly doubles the size to 21,787 square feet (or 24,087 including garage and other areas that do not figure when determining maximum floor area, or FAR). On streets that are 24 feet wide or less, the maximum allowable earth export without an R-1 Permit is 1,500 cubic yards; this project proposes to export 4,168 cubic yards consisting of mostly bedrock, estimated to become about 6,000 cubic yards when uncompacted, which translates to 750 truck trips each way to haul the dirt. In addition, an accessory structure, a pool, is proposed to be built within the 100-foot setback, to 38 feet beyond the front property line.
With the over-sized and excessive height aspects of the existing residence grandfathered in under the 1995 Hillside Ordinance, this remodel must retain 50 percent of the existing home to retain the nonconforming eligibility. If that is confusing, these are only a few of the challenges this project faced on the winding road that sped its way through the City so that it finally ended up on the council floor. Other questions that arose included reinterpreting a CEQA exemption, uncivil behavior by the applicant, Byron Allen and Planning Commissioner Joe Shooshani towards residents and emails and text messages between Shooshani and the applicant’s representative Murray Fischer. In one of the texts, Fischer outlined a strategy to undermine the Beverly Hills Hillside Protection Association (BHHPA) and residents Debbie Weiss and Ronald Richards that Shooshani read aloud at a Commission meeting, acting as if they were his original thoughts. In an email between Shooshani (see ‘CALLE VISTA’ page 16)
Beverly Hills Turns Out In Droves For Celebration Of Byron Pope’s Retirement By Victoria Talbot City Clerk Byron Pope is retiring after 18 years of service to the City of Beverly Hills at the end of the month and over 175 residents, commissioners, mayors, former commissioners and mayors, BHPD and BHFD, including two retired Fire Chiefs, fellow City Clerks and a host of extended family members honored him with a dinner at Greystone Mansion Wednesday. Tears were shed amid much back-slapping, a little nudging, roasting and singing, as guests told each other Byron Pope stories and welcomed his legacy to the lore of the City. Most notable was the outpouring of affection for the man who has sat at the hub of City Hall, organized all of the agendas, elections and public information requests, answered every question of protocol with grace and elegance and greeted every visitor with his memorable smile. Pope is responsible for local elections, local legislation, the Public Records Act, the Political Reform Act, and the Brown Act (open meeting laws). Before and after the city council acts, the City Clerk ensures that actions follow all federal, state and local statutes and regulations and that all actions are properly executed, recorded, and archived. In (see ‘BYRON POPE’ page 17)
BHHS Purple Line Walkout Some 1,500 students, parents, teachers and staff from all five Beverly Hills Unified School District schools are expected to participate in a walkout this morning at 10:30 a.m. at Will Rogers Memorial Park to protest Metro’s planned Purple Line Westside subway extension running beneath the City’s only public high school. “A new culture is developing at Beverly Hills High School – one of social justice and student action,” said BHHS senior Sean Toobi, one of the students helping to organize the walkout. The walkout, open to the public and scheduled for two hours, is intended to bring national attention to the health and safety risks related to running a subway line through fields of abandoned oil wells and pockets of methane gas. - Laura Coleman
Celebrity Photo Agency/Scott Downie
THIS ISSUE
October 12, 2018
HE LOVES TO FLIRT — Patrick Starr flirted nonstop with the celebrities during the 2018 American Music Awards at the Microsoft Theater. For more photos, see George Christy’s column on page 6.