News
Lawyers Shift Lincoln Place Behind the Scenes While Rosendahl Moves Actors Center Stage
by Roger Templeton
February 17, 2006 – On Wednesday, February 15, Lincoln Place Apartments owner AIMCO won in a negotiated settlement of a lawsuit what they could not win before the State Historical Resources Commission last November. The Denver-based owner of Lincoln Place got the California's Historical Resources Commission to set aside their designation of the 38-acre complex to the Register of Historic Resources pending a new hearing.
In an seperate action, District 11 Councilman Bill Rosendahl proposed a resolution to the City Council that calls for a 2002 agreement between the Planning Commission and Lincoln Place's owners to be made enforceable. That agreement set out a number of conditions for development on the site. Among those conditions are a "no involuntary evictions" provision and the promise that a number of units in the redeveloped complex will be set aside as "affordable" and "low income" housing
Rosendahl's “Keeping Faith with Lincoln Place” resolution calls upon the Planning Department to officially record the agreement negotiated in 2002 that was attached to the Environmental Impact Report and "Tract Map" plan that AIMCO and their then-partner, Robert Bisno submitted to the Planning Department and was approved by the City Council at the time. Since the Tract Map was not subsequently "recorded," AIMCO now claims that it is not bound by its conditions.
"The tract map has not been recorded," AIMCO Vice President, Patti Shwayder told VenicePaper in December. " It's a total misrepresentation, all this stuff … that AIMCO needs to live up to its promises. We made no promises. That's not our map. It's the prior owner's map."
The company evicted about 80 households last December, leaving approximately 80 seniors and disabled tenants still residing at Lincoln Place. These tenants will be subject to eviction after March 21.
Rosendahl's resolution points out that at the time the City Council approved the land use plan along with the conditions in November, 2002, AIMCO had a "partial ownership interest" in the corporation requesting the plan be approved. AIMCO has subsequently bought out their partner.
Rosendahl's motion was referred to the Council's Planning and Land Use committee for review, and will come back before the Council for action next month.
The settlement of AIMCO's lawsuit against the Historical Resources Commission was negotiated by AIMCO lawyer, Robert Crockett of Latham & Watkins, and California Deputy Attorney General Gary Tavetian along with Milford Wayne Donaldson, a State Historic Preservation Officer. Their agreement was finalized last Friday and approved by the court on Wednesday, February 15th.
The agreement stipulates that AIMCO will drop its suit claiming that the Historical Resources Commission did not properly notify the public that they may add Lincoln Place to the list of historical resources before they met in August, 2005. The Commission agreed to hold a new hearing on the Lincoln Place designation at their regularly scheduled meeting next May, or "as soon as permitted by law." AIMCO is barred from undertaking any new construction or demolition, even to "obtain permits, approvals or certifications" for their redevelopment plans, until 30 days after the Commission acts on Lincoln Place's status. However, the settlement does not provide any protections for the mostly elderly tenants remaining in the complex.
Designation to the State's Register of Historic Resources provides some protections for the buildings from complete demolition, including public hearings before the outer walls can be altered in a way that would compromise their architectural integrity. There are few limitations on how the interior spaces may be altered, improved or divided.
