L.A. Council Rejects Plan to Help Tenants of Venice Complex

The Los Angeles City Council Tuesday rejected a plan that some hoped would have protected the remaining tenants of a Venice apartment complex, all of whom are elderly or disabled.

The council’s 8-5 vote to reject a proposal aimed at allowing the roughly 50 tenants to stay puts an apparent end to a years-long fight over the Lincoln Place apartments.

The owner, AIMCO-Venezia LLC, plans to demolish most of the 1950s complex and build condominiums. The firm already has demolished about 100 of the 795 garden-style apartments, and the majority of tenants have left.

Some, however, have fought hard to stay. In December, tenants were evicted from nearly 60 units, but others, all elderly or disabled, were granted an extension. The extension expires today; however, tenants who plan to appeal an eviction would not have to move for a few months.

City Councilman Bill Rosendahl, whose district includes the complex, made a last-ditch attempt to allow the remaining tenants to stay. He proposed having the city enforce an agreement signed by a previous owner that required that tenants be relocated within the complex. But AIMCO had not agreed to those conditions when it purchased the complex in 2003. The city attorney told the council, before it rejected Rosendahl’s proposal, that it would not be enforceable and would expose the city to liability.

“I’m disappointed but I’m not upset,� Rosendahl said. “I knew I had an uphill battle from the beginning.� Rosendahl said he would meet with the mayor this week to brainstorm other options. “I don’t give up until the sheriffs show up at the door.�

Several tenants who attended the council meeting also expressed disappointment but vowed to fight on.

“We are going to have to take matters into our own hands,� said Sheila Bernard, 57, president of the Lincoln Place Tenants Assn. Bernard, a resident for nearly 19 years with a disabled daughter, said she and her neighbors will sue the city and AIMCO if the remaining tenants are evicted.

The specter of demolition has hung over Lincoln Place since 1991, when the then-owners applied for approval to replace the apartments with condos. The city initially refused, and lawsuits followed. The complex’s owners ultimately prevailed.