Larchmont Chronicle
vol. 52, no. 9 • delivered to 76,439 readers in hancock park • windsor square • fremont place • Miracle Mile • Park La Brea • Larchmont • SEPTEMBER
IN THIS ISSUE Back To School Larchmont chronicLe • 2015
Local students return to school for the 2015/16 year.
On the Inside ... A new co-ed sports league in town for 4th to 6th graders. 3 Lily Larsen interviews youth on activism at an early age. 9
BACK TO SCHOOL Section 3
TRAFFIC safety on Ridgewood/Wilton. 3
Larchmont Chronicle moves up the street New address on Boulevard for 52-year-old paper The Larchmont Chronicle is on the move. “We are in our new headquarters on the ground floor of the Leimert building at 606 N. Larchmont Blvd.,” said publisher John H. Welborne. It is the fourth move for the 52-year-old community newspaper that began in the den of Dawne Goodwin’s home on Poinsettia Place. In 1963, when co-founders Goodwin and Jane Gilman started their venture, very
Boulevard to get a sidewalk, tree makeover BID action plan
WINNER on Wilton Place.
2-2
CO-ED sports comes to neighborhood. 3-3 For Information on Advertising Rates, Please Call Pam Rudy 323-462-2241, x 11
2015
By Billy Taylor Following a public meeting at city hall on sidewalk repairs, Larchmont Village property owners are considering the best plan of action for Larchmont Blvd. “The ficus trees planted several decades ago by the City of Los Angeles have very aggressive root systems that continuously tear up the sidewalks, creating hazards for pedestrians and expensive, complicated plumbing problems for merchants and building owners,” says Tom Kneafsey, president of the Larchmont Village Business Improvement District (LVBID). “We need a solution for reSee Boulevard repair, p 7
little local news coverage was coming from the Hollywood Citizen News or the Wilshire Press. A year after publishing their first issue, Goodwin and Gilman signed a lease at 410 N. Larchmont Blvd. In its first 12 months, the Chronicle had doubled pages from 12 to 24. “410 N. Larchmont was the office where we planted a six-foot Ficus tree (now 50 feet tall), and where we had a three-section collapsible flagpole that we had to store each evening,” recalls Gilman. The Chronicle staff then doubled with the hiring of an office manager and a salesperson. When larger offices were available at 418 N. Larchmont, the newspaper set up shop there. After Goodwin and Gilman purchased the 1912 Craftsman style bungalow at 540 N. Larchmont and rented it out for a number of years, See Larchmont Chronicle, p 2
Pets of Larchmont E-mail us a photo of your favorite dog, cat, bird or rabbit—all pets are welcome—with their name and yours along with your address (only street names will be printed) to suzan@ larchmontchronicle.com for publication in our pet issue in October. Deadline is Tues., Sept. 15.
Mailing permit:
A TASTE OF tzatsiki at Le Petit Greek was served by Mario Lazaridis to Hazel Sepenuk and Mason Maxam during the annual Hope-Net benefit Aug. 24 on Larchmont Blvd. See story, photos in Sec. 2, page 11
NEW HOUSE on Lucerne was permitted before an ordinance to curb development took effect in March.
Project may be over the top, but it’s permitted New ordinance will address project size By Suzan Filipek A nearly 4,000-square foot home is being built at 310 N. Lucerne, replacing a single-story Spanish bungalow in Larchmont Village. It’s all above board, as the lot is 7,000-square feet, and under the city’s Baseline Mansionization Ordinance (BMO), you can build about half of the size of the property lot, or, as in this case, 3,500 square feet. “There is an additional 20
Music, art at Tarfest 2015
percent of BMO incentives… granted if the project is LEED certified or if the project incorporates certain architectural features,” said Tom Rothmann, code studies, City Planning Dept. The mansionization ordinance, passed in 2008, was to prevent McMansions from cropping up throughout the city. But loopholes in the law have allowed developers to build more homes out of scale with the neighborhood. A draft of an updated mansionization ordinance is expected by the end of the year, Rothmann said.
By Steven Rosenthal Anything free these days seems to be disappearing like the copper penny. However, even with rising festival fees, James Panozzo is firm in his commitment to keep the annual Tarfest music and art festival free for everyone. “Our vision is to provide emerging creative talent with an opportunity to have their work seen, heard and enjoyed by all Angelenos.” Now in its 13th year, Tarfest 2015 is presented by 88.5 FM KCSN and LAUNCH LA on Sat., Sept. 26 at the La Brea Tarpits Park on Museum Row from noon to 8 p.m. in the midst of a “treasure of green
Enter the ICO Seeking relief from the onslaught of large-scale houses on the rise, an Interim Control Ordinance was passed March 25. It limits the scale of new construction in several neighborhoods—including Larchmont Heights (the residential portion of Larchmont Village)—while the manisonization law is being reviewed. Under the ICO, a new home can be 120 percent larger than the one it replaces. The Lucerne home could have been a maximum of only 2,400 square feet as the Spanish bungalow was 2,000 square feet. The applicant had already submitted plans for the two-
See Tarfest, p 4
See Project, p 8
Free event Sept. 26
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