Out With the Old In With the New

By Teresa Rochester

Two streets in Ocean Park will be getting new neighbors soon following decisions made by the City's Architectural Review Board at its meeting Monday night.

The ARB approved construction of a home that will result in the demolition of a house in a potential historic district on Sixth Street. It also gave the go ahead for an unusual home to be built next door to a century old shotgun cottage on Second Street that was recently approved for demolition after a two year battle.

In a 6 to 1 decision, ARB members approved plans for a new home on the 2400 block of Sixth Street despite City staff's recommendation to turn down the project. Staff said the proposed home would clash with neighboring Craftsman style bungalows and possibly diminish the neighborhood's chance of being designated a historic district.

The project had gone before the ARB on four other occasions and was sent back each time for further revisions to make it more compatible to the neighborhood. According to Ocean Park guidelines homes built in the area must be either Craftsman style, Spanish/Mediterranean style or International/Moderne style. In their report staff describes the home as a mix of the International and Craftsman styles.

"I felt the applicant did not address a lot of the issues about neighborhood compatibility in relation to the Ocean Park guidelines," ARB member Howard Laks, who cast the lone dissenting vote, said after the meeting. "I felt the applicant really didn't address concerns from the board."

"I was in support of the building from the beginning," ARB member Sergio Zeballos said after the meeting. "They did everything that they had to do. I think it reflects the Craftsman style to the south [of the house]. It's also eclectic enough to fit in with the other houses."

The house that currently sits on the property also is a Craftsman bungalow that is included in the City's inventory of potential historic landmarks. The house's owner contended that he did not know that the house was included in the inventory. The Landmarks Commission however failed to give the home the nod needed to explore if it is a possible landmark.

Rick Laudati, president of the Ocean Park Community Organization, said the case highlights problems with neighborhood notification. While OPCO did not take a position on the house on Sixth Street the organization plans to poll residents on the block to see if they want to pursue a historic district designation.

"It's kind of like a contradiction," Laudati said. "How would anybody be able to comment because no one was there to talk about it… It's kind of a mess. I hope that we'll be able to help the process along to make this a little clearer."

In a separate action the ARB unanimously approved plans for a new home on Second Street next door to a century-old uninhabitable shotgun cottage, whose owners recently won a two-year-old battle to demolish the dilapidated structure.

While City staff expressed concern about the size and massing of the home, ARB members found no problem with the proposed structure, which will be built using industrial materials such as steel and corrugated metal.

"I thought the house a well defined house. It has a clarity with respect to its architectural vocabulary," said Laks after the meeting. "However, I had some issues to its context to the neighborhood.

"The overall neighborhood had taller buildings," Laks said. "It's a well executed structure and looking at some of the contextual photographs I did notice that some of the buildings up and down the street had larger massing."

"The applicant presented a pretty clear case of the eclecticism of the neighborhood," said Zeballos afterwards. "The design was very accomplished and very good. I did not feel it was a problem…It warranted that approval."