The Planning Commission postponed its public hearing of a proposed Zone Text Amendment affecting certain WeHo neighborhoods after a leader of one of those neighborhoods suffered a heart attack.
Greenacre Avenue resident Michael Poles, according to Chairperson Lynn Hoopingarner, was admitted to the hospital on Wednesday and is currently on a ventilator.
Hoopingarner motioned to postpone the hearing based on a prior incident in which a neighborhood leader was hospitalized.
The amendment, in accordance with SB9, would apply to three neighborhoods in WeHo on cul-de-sacs, allowing the lots to be subdivided and two dwelling units to be built on those two lots.
Poles lives on Greenacre Avenue, one of the neighborhoods that would be directly affected by the proposal.
Hoopingarner was also concerned that residents of one of the three neighborhoods, none of whom had contacted the city about the proposal, had not received proper notification of the hearing, noting that residents of the other two neighborhoods responded in droves.
John Keho with the City of West Hollywood shot down her concerns.
“We have no idea if people opened their mail and had no concern. They could have all opened the mail, read it and had no concern. So you’re putting us in an awkward situation where you’re trying to read into the minds of neighborhood residents and you want us to find out if they’ve read the letter. We can’t do that.”
The hearing will now be held on April 7.
Is there an update on the condition of Michael Poles able to be shared with the community?
C’mon people, show some respect. Both John Keho and Lynn Hooppingardner are well qualified for the positions they hold. “John has been with the City of West Hollywood for more than 20 years. He started as a planner, he was promoted to Planning Manager, and later he was promoted to Assistant Director and then Interim Director for the Department. John was named Director in 2019 of the City of West Hollywood’s Planning and Development Services Department. He oversees three divisions: Building and Safety, Current and Historic Preservation Planning, and Long-Range Planning. He earned a master’s degree in Urban… Read more »
The difference between Lynn Hoopengarner and John Keho is scope. Mr. Keho is well qualified in the disciplines of planning but unfortunately lacking in scooped vision. I does not allow him the latitude of bringing remarkable and thoughtful projects to Wes Hollywood. Ms. Hoopengarner considers the overarching picture in addition to the details.
C’mon people, show some respect. Both John Keho and Lynn Hooppingardner are well qualified for the positions they hold. “John has been with the City of West Hollywood for more than 20 years. He started as a planner, he was promoted to Planning Manager, and later he was promoted to Assistant Director and then Interim Director for the Department. John was named Director in 2019 of the City of West Hollywood’s Planning and Development Services Department. He oversees three divisions: Building and Safety, Current and Historic Preservation Planning, and Long Range Planning. He earned a Master’s Degree in Urban Planning… Read more »
Betty Way is such a small tiny street and the lots seem so small, I can’t imagine allowing four dwellings on what is currently a single lot. I realize there might be a housing shortage but there are plenty of opportunities on our main commercial corridors to build multi story buildings instead of looking at small tiny streets and massing it out if scale with its surroundings.
The city of West Hollywood is still an experiment and the pages wehovilkle.com certainly prove that.
An experiment without proper guidance lurching towards a mini failed state. Believe it or not, there are strange occurrences and parallels in the Russian aggression against Ukraine and the failed state status of Lebanon, once the Paris of the Middle East.
It takes dedication to bring about these catastrophes and shocking that the same amount of effort and dedication could be dedicated towards building ethical communities.
A failed experiment. Time for a change.
Why are they so angry?
Thank you Lynn. Nobody elected John Keho and its time for him to go!
Lynn Hoopengarner, the only qualified and truly credible keeper of the light. She is up against an entrenched staff essentially dedicated to eviscerating the true concept and practices of authentic historic preservation. Her colleagues, only one that seems willing are not knowledgeable enough and another is hard set in defining personal enrichment benefits from the city. A combination of like this is fully capable of reinforcing unscrupulous practices. Death by a thousand cuts are difficult for the residents at large to perceive and normal curative resolutions are constrained internally with cooperation of a few willing commissioners. The behavior of John… Read more »
Keho gave just the sport of measured, professional response one would expect from a contestant on “Snatch Game.” Since this is a Planning Commission meeting and not “RuPaul’s Drag Race” I would hope staff would be a little more measured in their dealings with Commissioners. I can imagine how pleasant they are to the public..
Who are these people? Who voted for them?
When is David Wilson going to shoot down the imperious prick known as John Keho and remind him that he is a public servant doing the work of the people and not his own ego?
Thanks Alan. Given the problems the City has recently experienced with getting out proper notices and providing obscure notices, Ms. Hoppingarner’s concerns should not have been so casually dismissed by Staff. How many times have items been continued due to mistakes in the noticing process?
Recently, former Planning Commissioner Sue Buckner testified to just this issue on a Shoreham Drive development proposal.
Other information concerning planning issues has been summarily “deep-sixed” to avoid the light of day.
It is very disappointing that staff’s inability to get out accurate notices on time or in the right hands; it certainly reflects poorly on management and the priorities of the City. I have received several notices where it looked like the developer wrote the notice because the information was so paltry and misleading.
You may be right about developers writing the notices. What Weho seems to have are many policies and procedures but consistently lacking in high standards.
Our former City Attorney Mike Jenkins once stated in a public meeting in Malibu when questioned about procedure that “we will continue to make it up as we go along until the courts tell us to stop”.
Clever dude.