By Jim Robinson, President

WAHA members should be very proud of the role they played in persuading the Planning Commission to continue protecting monument interiors through the city's Cultural Heritage Ordinance.

Many WAHA members were among the dozens of preservationists who spoke at the commission's final hearing Thursday in the City Council Chamber, arguing that historic interiors can be just as important as exteriors – sometimes more so.

Over the previous two months, WAHA members Rory Cunningham, Laura Meyers, Mitzi Mogul and David Rapoza joined me and other preservationists in a Working Group formed by the Planning Department that spent more than 12 hours trying to persuade some of the city's most powerful interests to withdraw their opposition.

Opponents at Thursday's commission hearing included the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce, a consortium of film studios, and the Central City Association, representing hundreds of major businesses.

In the end, our reasoned arguments – in dozens of emails and one-minute speeches – prevailed. We owe tremendous thanks to all our members – and those of other preservation organizations – who lent their support to this vital effort.

Our coalition included representatives of the Art Deco Society of Los Angeles, Highland Park Heritage Trust, Hollywood Heritage, the Los Angeles Conservancy, the Los Angeles Heritage Alliance and the North University Park Community Association.

Here's how Ken Bernstein, manager of the city's Office of Historic Resources, described the outcome:

"Today, the City Planning Commission voted 7-1 to approve the staff recommendation on the proposed amendments to the Cultural Heritage Ordinance.

"Most of the discussion focused on the review of interior spaces in Historic-Cultural Monuments. The Commission supported the staff recommendation, which emerged from meetings of a Working Group on Interiors, to go back to the status quo on interior review. Under this proposal, all interior permits would continue to be referred to the Cultural Heritage Commission and the Office of Historic Resources for review, as has occurred since 1962. As in the current ordinance, the CHC could not deny approval of interior work altogether: it could only object to the issuance of the permit for no more than 180 days, with a possible 180-day extension of the objection period upon approval of the City Council.

"We felt that this compromise lessened any potential burden on property owners, while still protecting Monuments whose significant interiors are often inseparable from the building's overall architectural significance. The new ordinance would require that exterior work, additions, or new construction be subject to a "Certificate of Appropriateness" that could be denied. The ordinance version approved today also maintains our staff recommendation to enhance protections for historic properties by giving the Cultural Heritage Commission the power to deny demolition requests for Monuments.

"Next, the ordinance will go to the City Attorney for review and possible refinement. The City Planning Commission also voted to request that the City Attorney and Department of City Planning staff review and refine how the Cultural Heritage Ordinance provisions will interact with requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). Because these reviews may take a few months, we anticipate that the ordinance may not proceed to the Planning and Land Use Management (PLUM) Committee and City Council for final approval until early 2010.

"Sincerely,
Ken Bernstein"