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| Photo: Bill Wheelock |
Jean’s Homestead, 5303 hermitage Avenue
Valley Village, Ca 91607
Jennifer
Getz moved to the homestead at 5303 Hermitage Avenue about 20 years ago
and her elderly landlady Jean immediately put her to work in the
gardens. She soon had Jennifer doing maintenance and hired her on as
property manager. A close friendship developed between the two based on
their mutual love of caring for the property. Jean told Jennifer how she
and her husband had begun building their house on the site in the
1930’s. They liked community so they built a duplex and a
guest house as well. Jean dedicated an entire section of her home as a
women's sewing center so the ladies of the neighborhood could gather
together and sew while the children ran around and played. At one point
they even had a day care. The house as Jean built it was a neighborhood
destination. Jean raised her two children Clint and Sydney at the house
and lived their until she was 95 years old. Her son found her a place
to live near him and Jennifer continued on as property manager,
regularly visiting with Jean to report on her beloved property what
flowers were in bloom and if the mature camphor trees in the front
needed trimming.
Jean died shortly after her one hundredth
birthday. Jean never did agreements, contracts, or leases of any kind.
Everything was on a handshake. But son Clint legally gave Jennifer the
right of first refusal if the property was ever to be sold. Jennifer and
Jean's children had a warm relationship. Jeans son Clint helped
Jennifer work on the property and Jennifer in turn found alternative
revenue streams for the two siblings by renting the property to location
scouts for movies and tv. By this time Jennifer had found her niche in
the burgeoning Urban Farming community and had started a non-profit
called
SomethingBigger.org
dedicated to working with children to ignite compassion for animals and
the environment in the city. Her particular interest was teaching kids
about the importance of our urban environment; providing hands on
education for kids to learn about bees, making honey, backyard chickens
& the importance of how even kids can help play a role in
environmental conservation & preservation.
Life was good
for the residents and the owners at Jean’s Homestead at 5303 Hermitage
Ave. But then Clint died suddenly and a grandchild Jennifer had never
met- Eric S. Edwards- appeared fresh out of law school and eager to
profit from his grandmother's property even though he had no legal
grounds to do so. He made a deal to sell Jean's Homestead to a
luxury small lot development company called Urban Blox. Suddenly,
Jennifer was faced with eviction along with many long term renting
families who lived on the block. The prospect of seeing Jean's lifetime
of work bulldozed so that a small group- the developers and the
grandson- could make a huge profit spurred Jennifer to action. The
grandson started intimidation tactics to try to get the tenants out.
Urban Blox brought in high powered attorneys from
Sklar Kirsh who also happen to be
representing a handful of other developers with demolition plans for the
neighborhood. Her legal right of first refusal was treated as if it did
not exist. Security cameras Jennifer installed to protect Jean's
Homestead now serve an entirely new purpose, to protect the tenants from
Urban Blox.
Jennifer is a very smart lady. She quickly learned
everything she could about the laws and felt she had a strong case. She
tried to get the homestead made into a cultural landmark; a process
actually started with Jean before her death. This is one of the few ways
of saving homes from demolition in LA. But the legal team from Urban
Blox shot down the application. She then treid to get just the trees
designated being the oldest & largest last remaining Camphors in the
area. Again, the developers & their attorneys got there way by one
vote.
Jennifer then tried to appeal to the Department of City
Planning (DCP) and senior planner Jose Romero-Navarro when Urban Blox
decided to apply for permission to demolish Jean’s homestead even though
they do not own it. But Navarro decided to allow the hearing to take
place despite widespread community opposition. Legions of letters have
been submitted to the city citing the development's failure to comply
with dozens of state & city codes. The proposed development
includes the wholesale destruction of Jean’s homestead, a neighboring
mid-sized apartment building, a single family house - all rent
stabilized with long term tenants, and the demolition of over 3 dozen
trees- to build the luxury small lot development. None of the current
residents can afford the proposed units. Many would not choose to live
in them if they could.
The fate of Jean’s Homestead
hangs in the balance as the Planning and Land Use Committee is currently
reviewing the community appeal.
UPDATE!!
To voice your concerns about this project contact the Plum Committee members and land use staff:
Jose Huizar, Chair
(213) 473-7014
councilmember.huizar@lacity.org clare.eberle@lacity.org
Marqueece Harris-Dawson
(213) 473-7008
councilmember.harris-dawson@lacity.org Lynell.Washington@lacity.org
Gilbert A. Cedillo
(213) 473-7001
councilmember.cedillo@lacity.org Gerald.Gubatan@lacity.org
Mitch Englander
(213) 473-7012
councilmember.englander@lacity.org Hannah.Lee@lacity.org
Curren D. Price Jr.
(213) 473-7009
councilmember.price@lacity.org Robert.Katherman@lacity.org
MAKE SURE TO CC: Sharon.Dickinson@lacity.org
CUT AND PASTE THE TEXT IN RED INTO A NEW EMAIL
I
am emailing you to urge the councilmember to Save Hermitage and Uphold
the appeal for Case Number VTT 73704-SL and ENV-2015-2618-MND scheduled
for the Planning and Land Use Meeting on October 25, 2016.
We
need you to stand up to Greedy Developers who bully and harass tenants,
destroy our architectural legacy and demolish the last of our rent
stabilized homes.
Thanks!!!!
