EASTSIDER LA - A proposal by developers to build 18 modern homes near Vestal Street and Baxter Avenue in Echo Park won the support of the Echo Park neighborhood council Tuesday night but not without sparking an emotional stream of public comment and debate.
Developers Casey Lynch and Michael J. Brown are seeking city permission to carve up the site into as many as 18 properties for their Blackbirds development under the city’s small-lot subdivision ordnance.
Accompanying Lynch and Brown at the meeting was Barbara Bestor, the architect behind the duo’s development plans. Bestor described the implementation of what she called “stealth density, which would make two or three houses look like one house” and the “living street strategy,” which would allow surface level parking to be used for other practical and aesthetic purposes, Bestor concluded that such a new development formula would “reduce bulk … parking and traffic.” (The rest of this East Sider report … plus what the most vocal opponents had to say … here)
-cw
CityWatch
Vol 10 Issue 60
Pub: July 27, 2012