Happy Holidays From The Courier!
VOLUME XXXXVIIII NUMBER 50 $135 PER YEAR - $1.25 PER COPY •
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Sweeping Cultural Heritage Changes Approved In Vote By Victoria Talbot The Beverly Hills Planning Commission voted 4-1 with Commissioner Brian Rosenstein withholding approval Thursday to revamp the ordinance that created the Cultural Heritage Commission and took Beverly Hills from an L.A. Conservancy report card grade of "F" in 2009 to "A+" for preservation in 2014. In what began as a simple housekeeping move to align the ordinance language with the language used in the State Office of Historic Preservation and to create a streamlined timeline to reduce waiting periods for homeowners seeking demolitions. The resulting ordinance differs significantly in language from the State’s and has instead, become disempowered with much authority moving to the Community Development Director, the Planning Commission and ultimately City Council. The new ordinance will also significantly curb the number of homes that will be
Now online at www.bhcourier.com: Rabbi David Baron served as religious consultant for new hit film Exodus: Gods and Kings
Beverly Hills resident Ken Goldman wins “Grandfather of the Year” prize for his allout Holiday decorations. 5
Beverly Hills families feed the hungry during the Holiday season. 5
BHHS alumna Stacy Levyn is engaged to fellow USC grad Ricardo Rozen. 12 •Real Estate 14 •Sports 22 •Birthdays 24
George Christy, Page 6 The Caucus Dinner Returns, And Angela Lansbury Delivers Her SureFire Tony AwardWinning Performance As The Gypsy Fortune Teller Madame Arcati In Noel Coward’s Blithe Spirit Editorial from Rabbi Pressman AND MORE
CLASSIFIEDS • • • • •
Announcements Real Estate Rentals Sales and More
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HAPPY HOLIDAYS—The Beverly Hills Conference and Visitors Bureau sponsored the first-ever Holiday Bazaar at Beverly Canon Garden last week. Above, the West Beat Carolers could not look more the part of an old-fashioned holiday spirit. Right: Marti Kirshenbaum, Pat Boone and Rabbi Yossi Kunin light the Menorah on Sunset Boulevard and Beverly Drive on the first night of Hanukkah. Photo by Orly Halevy
(see ‘CULTURAL HERITAGE,’ page 9)
Beverly Elder: Stanley Black, 82 – Philanthropist, Investor Part 16 in a series on Beverly Hills residents who have grown with the Centennial City. By Laura Coleman Stanley Black is an L.A. man with an L.A. story. Born Oct. 3, 1932 at St. Vincent's Hospital and educated primarily in the local public schools around his childhood home at Pico/La Cienega, today 82-year old Black owns scores of income-producing properties in some 30 states across the nation. Black’s Beverly Hills office, where he comes every morning to manage his investments and do charity work, is filled with inspirational proverbs on plaques, meaningful art, Judaica, and an abundance of monkeys that range from
Stanley Black
giant rose quartz sculptures to tchotchkes of the three wise monkeys. “I think today I must have 1,000 monkeys I collected,” he (see ‘STANLEY BLACK,’ page 18)
Beverly Hills Neighbors Protest Large Loma Linda Project By Victoria Talbot Playing to a packed house last Thursday, Beverly Hills attorney Tom Levyn and facilitator Jason Somers attempted to persuade the City’s five planning commissioners that a proposed project at 1184-1193 Loma Linda Drive should be erected as proposed Thursday to a largely unreceptive audience. The project received negative reviews from four out of five commissioners, with Chair Howard Fisher, voting in the affirmative. Commissioner Alan Block said the project was simply "too big" for the neighborhood.
BHUSD Solicits Bids For Armed Guards After EBI Dissolves By Laura Coleman Two months after EvidenceBased Incorporated (EBI) filed for bankruptcy and left the Beverly Hills public school system looking rather inept for its decision to forego a competitive bid process to hire a newly formed security firm distinguished primarily by its connection to the Beverly Hills police force, the Beverly Hills Unified School District this week posted a Request for Proposals for school safety and security services firms
on its website. “We'd like to get the security back in place as quickly as possible to the beginning of the school year,” Board of Education President Brian Goldberg said. RFPs from “experienced” security companies to provide armed, uniformed guards are due by Jan. 5, 2014. “We made a mistake and we're continuing to work to rectify it.” Unlike the previous one-year contract the school district voted (see ‘EBI,’ page 26)
Celebrity Photo/Scott Downie
The BHPD foiled a stolen car attempt that ended in a 3-car crash. 4
December 19, 2014
Commissioner Craig Corman said it was not "the right balance," while Commissioner Brian Rosenstein recommended that with the degree of construction, excavation and hauling and the affect on the privacy of the neighbors the applicant should consider reducing the size. The project is for wealthy Canadian businessman Francesco Aquilini, owner of the Vancouver Canucks hockey team. Aquilini was present with his daughter for the meeting. At issue is a 15,000 square foot residence above grade (see ‘LOMA LINDA,’ page 26)
A FAMILY A F FA I R — B r a d Pitt escorted his youngsters (L-R) Pax Thien, Shiloh Nouvel, and Maddox with his parents Jane and William Pitt during Universal’s premiere of Angelina Jolie’s Unbroken in Hollywood. For more photos, see George Christy’s column on page 6.