Woo Wants to See Plans Before Block Is Razed

Los Angeles City Councilman Michael Woo has called for an environmental impact report on a Ventura Boulevard shopping center project that he said could create an “out-of-scale development” in Sherman Oaks.

In a letter released Friday by homeowner groups, Woo asked Building and Safety Director Warren O’Brien to order the center’s applicant, Jacky Gamiel of Jama Enterprises, to address the effects of the development being planned for the 13600 block of Ventura Boulevard.

The request came just two weeks after Los Angeles officials denied Gamiel’s application for a permit to tear down stores on the block, including the former home of Scene of the Crime, a popular mystery bookstore. Woo said the demolition permit would be withheld indefinitely until the developer revealed specifics about the project.

Gamiel evicted the Scene of the Crime and other tenants of the 46-year-old row of one-story storefronts this year. Only one tenant remains--the restaurant Mary’s Lamb.

Woo told O’Brien in the letter that he understood the project would total up to 100,000 square feet in a “very sensitive area of Sherman Oaks.” He said a project of that size could have a negative effect on traffic, air quality and the neighboring residential neighborhood.

“The possibility of out-of-scale development which might harm the community is very real,” Woo wrote.

Jama attorney Benjamin M. Reznik criticized Woo’s request. “How can he be demanding an environmental impact report on a project he knows nothing about?” he said. “The only thing we’ve asked the city for so far is to demolish the buildings.”

Although he said there were no specific plans, he added that the project under consideration is about 80,000 square feet.

Reznik said he had written the city Building and Safety Department asking for a demolition permit or “a written explanation on why it’s being denied.”

Residents of Sherman Oaks have said they plan to ask Los Angeles officials to award landmark status to the 1940s-era storefronts. Such a designation would stall the proposed development.