Re “Vote on Bulgari Hotel project moves forward in council,” March 23 issue
Listening to the public comments during the Los Angeles City Council PLUM Committee meeting and vote revealed everything you need to know about this proposed project.
The vast majority of the pro-hotel callers were labor union people reading from prepared scripts, while the voices in opposition were from the people who actually live in the canyon, and environmental groups.
The message is clear: short term benefits, temporary jobs in exchange for permanent problems that will jeopardize not only the residents of the canyon but the entire city. Those problems include loss of fire safety, nightmare traffic, 24-hour seven-days-a-week noise, wildlife and green space destruction, and a terrible precedent for future development in the Santa Monica Mountains that will live long after those workers return to their homes.
This is not even a remotely reasonable exchange: Temporary jobs for permanent destruction and permanent problems that will cost the city millions of dollars while making Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy even more wealthy.
I trust the Los Angeles City Council will see that this is a foolish exchange of values and one that hurts everyone.
Rodney Kemerer
Beverly Hills
7 Comments
Bravo Mr. Kemerer!!
The choice is clear. It would be incomprehensible and a dereliction of duty for the LA City Council to to approve something so antithetical to the welfare of the people they have been elected to serve.
I completely agree with Rodney Kemerer. The destruction of established and protected Oak Trees, the danger of fires in the canyons and traffic gridlock even worse than it is today should be on the minds of all who live in Los Angeles. The damage that will be caused by trucks traveling in the narrow canyon roads will add to the taxes that we all pay in addition to the inconvenience that will be caused to the residents of Benedict Canyon and Beverly Hills.
This unusual and foolish project should stop now before the City spends additional time, effort and cost at the expense of tax payers.
This ill conceived project would be the 1st commercial use in Benedict Canyon’s over 100 year history as a residential and environmentally friendly place.
We already have noise pollution from the party houses this project will have weddings and assorted parties every week.
Bvulgari professes to be environmentally friendly when they’re just the opposite. Flagging this project w their name will have severe consequences their retail business as Beverly Hills residents will be encouraged to boycott their stores and products.
This developer has weaponized the unions against the community that has 11,000 local signatures firmly against this project. Sadly, I believe the Unions are threatening our City Council w votes, and they may cave to a zone change that was specifically put in place by their predecessors to avoid these kinds of developments in the SM Mtns. Well we the community, also vote!
The Bulgari Hotel is such an ill conceived project that it’s stunning it wasn’t rejected when submitted. It makes no sense to destroy an environmentally sensitive community and set a destructive precedent for commercial development throughout the Santa Monica mountains. The City Council should reject this project and not cave to union pressure for a project that even if it were to be approved, would most assuredly not be built by union labor.
The issue at hand is the rezoning of the Santa Monica Mountains from low density residential to a special commercial zone. This is not a question of jobs, though the developer would like to deflect to a new narrative. He’d like you to think that voting no to change the zoning is a jobs-killer. It’s not. Union labor will not be used to build luxury private dwellings. And, one “retreat” in Benedict Canyon is not going to grow union jobs – that would be multi-unit permanent housing in properly zoned areas near transportation hubs. So, look away from the shiny object that has some council members worried about being re-elected, and pay attention to the real issue. What happens in one canyon happens in all. Rezoning the Santa Monica Mountains to allow commercial development will be catastrophic to our city’s very fabric. Traffic, wildfire safety, underdeveloped infrastructure, and the environmental impact are just the tip of the iceberg. Our government needs to stay focused on the real issue and not be forever known as those that destroyed an essential element of our city.
Zoning change for $$$. No other reason to suggest such a silly idea. Leave our single family environments alone Please!!
The Bulgari Hotel should be stopped immediately! There are a whole host of issues with this totally egregious and nonsensical idea. The City Council cannot endanger the lives of residential neighborhoods for the benefit of one developer who has made unrealistic and false promises to labor unions. It is truly sad to see greed and self interest cloud the judgment of those the good citizens have voted to office to protect their interest to safeguard the safety, security and sanctity or our homes, families, and environment.
Tens of thousands of the residents of Benedict Canyon and the Santa Monica Mountains salute Councilwoman Katy Yaroslavsky for her courage and conviction to keep her campaign promise and protect the people and the environment.