"We Need Another Hotel In Venice Like We Need Another Food Truck"

100+ Venetians pack the Oakwood Rec Center to oppose Abrams' hotel project.

I'll have to make this short, folks, it's been a long day and there's lots to process. 

As a neighbor I am beyond grateful for the 100+ community members who came out tonight to the Venice Land Use and Planning Committee meeting to voice your opposition to Abrams' 92-room hotel.  Your comments were amazing, insightful, creative, cogent and concise. 

One Venice resident voiced her concerns better than I ever could, "We need another hotel in Venice like we need another food truck."

Thanks to all the pressure you put on the developer, he's finally agreed to the easiest concession - reducing the hotel's height from 4 stories to 3.  But we have miles to go before we're done. 

Though the height reductions will reduce the overall number of hotel rooms, it won't be by much, and after talking with Abrams, it was clear he would try to replace some if not most of the 12 rooms that would have been on that 4th floor. And Abrams and his partners still have not made any adjustments to scale and mass, nor have they dealt with the inadequate parking or the traffic issues this project would generate for the surrounding neighborhood. 

So this is far from settled. The hotel must now go back to the drawing board and come back to LUPC for a vote. Stay tuned and stay engaged folks, it's going to be a long and bumpy ride. 

More details soon.