Prompted by concerns over size, the West Hollywood Planning Commission on Thursday recommended to deny a proposed three-acre mixed-use project at 7300-7328 Santa Monica Blvd.

The motion to deny the request to construct Casden Properties’ Movietown Plaza passed by a vote of 4-3. Some commissioners who voted for the motion said they like the project but believe it is too big for that area of the city.

The West Hollywood Council is scheduled to vote on the project Feb. 1.
Movietown Plaza is slated to encompass 371 residential units, of which 294 would be market-rate condominiums, distributed across two 10-story structures and 32,000 square feet of retail space in two additional buildings.

Five stories of affordable housing units for senior citizens would be constructed atop the commercial building located at the intersection of Santa Monica Boulevard and Poinsettia Place. A 5,000-square-foot public plaza for pedestrians would be built between the two commercial structures.

The project would replace the 48,807-square-foot Movietown Plaza strip shopping center that now exists at the site.

According to the project’s environmental impact report, Movietown Plaza would generate an additional net of 2,104 car trips per weekday and 1,175 per day on weekends.

Casden Properties filed the application on Nov. 27, 2007, and since then, some residents have voiced opposition to the project.

“I have serious concerns regarding the unmitigated negative effects the project as proposed will have both on the environment and quality of life as it pertains,” said Michael Poles, a Greenacre Avenue resident. “Traffic gridlock, which is choking at Santa Monica and La Brea and obstructs access to and from Greenacre Avenue — the project is too dense and too tall.”

Casden Properties representative Darren Embry spoke during the meeting, saying that the proposed affordable housing units are contingent upon the project remaining as proposed.

“To stay the quality that we wanted, to do the building with the quantity of affordable housing we wanted to do and be able to afford that, we need the building size that we’ve come down to,” he said.

West Hollywood zoning regulations prohibit a project with the height requested by Casden Properties.

The developer sought a specific plan that would grant it exemptions to move forward with construction.

Commissioner John Altschul said Casden Properties should pursue an alternative form of the project outlined in the environmental impact report.

One alternative would eliminate the residential component and allow only 197,550 square feet of retail space to be built.

The alternative most noted by commissioners was one that would restrict the Movietown Plazas structures to a height of less than four stories.

“I think cramming this into a three-acre parcel looks a little bit daunting,” Altschul said. He added, “It’s a fabulous project — I just think it’s too big.”

Commissioner Marc Yeber said he would have been in favor of a different motion.
“I think we’re sending the wrong message to the council if we outright deny it,” he said. “We’re could approve it with a certain set of conditions, but we’re asking the council to deny it. I want to see the project move forward.”