Le Petit Jardin could be forced to move if a planned hotel is approved for the site. (photo by Cameron Kiszla)

The Los Angeles Planning Commission delayed a June 10 hearing on a proposed hotel on Robertson Boulevard. The item was continued until Sept. 9.

Ira Handelman, a consultant and spokesman for the project, said the delay was requested by city staff.

“The city asked us to do it, and we agreed,” he said.

Planning Commission documents list City Planner Oliver Netburn as the staff member handling the project. Netburn did not return a request for comment.

Project plans for the hotel – the SORO Hotel, named for its location south of Robertson – call for 131 hotel rooms to be built at 1434-1456 S. Robertson Blvd., displacing existing commercial buildings and 12 housing units. One of those buildings, located at 1456 S. Robertson Blvd., has been the home to the Le Petit Jardin café and flower shop for 27 years.

Priscilla Sotelo Klisch, whose family owns the business and who lives in an apartment above the restaurant with her father, said as time goes on, more neighbors are learning about the project and joining her in opposing it.

“Everybody that we’ve talked to has had a negative impression of the hotel,” she said. “The more people know about it, they have questions about what change that could bring to the neighborhood and community, and how that would affect them.”

Sotelo Klisch also said there have been no “real conversations” about a relocation offer from the development team.

“To say that we’re in negotiations, there’s been a lot of misrepresentation of what their ideas are … The way it was portrayed, nothing legitimate was ever presented to me … I am still waiting for them to set up an actual meeting,” she said. “I’m not going to say yes or no to taking an offer, but as of right now, I’m saying no, because nothing legitimate has been presented.”

Handelman said the development team has reached out to Sotelo Klisch, but “she hasn’t responded.”