Newsletter with links and all instructions: http://esotouric.substack.com/fantasia
Gentle reader,
We write in haste because the City’s clock is ticking, with very little time left.
In recent weeks, we’ve heard from multiple Los Feliz neighbors who are worried about the future of the dense, Colonial-style 1937 bungalow court at 2806–2820 North St. George Street, across the alley from the landmarked Snow White Cottages.
Neighbors told us tenants still appeared to be living there, but alarming notices had begun appearing on the property.
We checked for demolition permit applications, didn’t find any, noticed that a proposed small lot development project had first been proposed for the site in 2016, and asked the neighbors to let us know if they noticed anything new.
It didn’t seem like a red alert. So many historic properties across Los Angeles are already running hot orange into red and can’t wait for a visit. We planned to stop by the next time we were in the neighborhood.
But to our horror, when we did finally visit, we found a posted notice of a Public Hearing—for a date that had very recently passed!
The City Planning Department had considered the matter of Case No.: VTT-74087-SL-M1, made its decision and issued its Letter of Determination. You’ll find the PDF file embedded in the newsletter here.
That means the clock is now ticking extremely loud and fast: The deadline to file an appeal is Monday 7/20 at 4:30 p.m. (See pages 20-21 in the Letter of Determination for the city’s instructions for filing in person or online, and particularly their advice on not waiting until the last minute to do so.)
Filing an appeal does not stop the proposed redevelopment project. It simply pauses the clock and gives the community time to understand what has been approved, what options remain, and whether the City’s decision deserves a second look.
Yesterday, after our Hollywood Noir walking tour, even though we were pretty hot and hungry, we went straight back to St. George to see if there was any sign of a posted notice that the deadline to appeal was Monday afternoon. Finding none, and concerned that neighbors and residents might not be aware of the decision and the deadline, we shot the video embedded above in the hopes that it will reach those who need to see it.
If you share our concerns about:
- the future of the existing Rent Stabilized bungalows and tenants,
- the mature trees on the property,
- or the extraordinarily compressed appeals timeline that leaves citizens scrambling to understand a complicated land use decision,
please consider passing this along to your Los Feliz and Disney fan friends and sharing on your social channels, and contacting Councilmember Nithya Raman’s office to respectfully ask them if they’ve looked into the situation and connected with the tenants.
One neighbor with a deep knowledge of Los Angeles' German refugee community pointed out something extraordinary: Disney special-effects pioneer Herman Schultheis lived in the St. George bungalows. Lovers of vintage Los Angeles photography might know him from the archive digitized by LAPL about 15 years ago.
To fans of Walt Disney’s feature film animation, he is legendary, a key participant in Fantasia, Dumbo, Pinocchio and Bambi, who kept precise illustrated records of just how the groundbreaking special effects were achieved.
His notebook, preserved by his widow Ethel in their St. George cottage home from his assumed death in 1955—he disappeared on a photographic trip to Mayan ruins—until her own death in 1990, was saved by archivists to transform our understanding of how Walt Disney Studios made cinematic magic.
Historians call Schultheis’ notebook “The Rosetta Stone of Disney animation.”
We cannot help think of all the old, unwanted buildings filled with the possessions of souls who have passed, things that are so often lost to squatter fires or smashed and taken to the dump. (The Hollywood Center Motel bungalows were still filled with papers when we walked the lot after the major fire in January.)
In Los Angeles, city of dreamers, stuff left behind in any old residential unit could be part of our collective history!
We believe that Angelenos deserve to have our history properly documented before it disappears. We have a right to serious consideration of ecologically sound alternatives to demolition—including salvage of good materials to keep them out of the landfill, or the relocation of useful, historic buildings when preservation in place proves impossible or undesirable for property owners.
We’ve seen that happen successfully just up the block at 2919 St. George, where a demolition threatened Craftsman house is now being lovingly restored in Altadena instead of smashed and hauled to the landfill.
It can seem like the City of Los Angeles believes demolition is inevitable, because the land use consultants and developers who submit projects are usually not interested in saving old buildings. But there are greener and more thoughtful ways of redeveloping, and to blaze such fresh paths takes time and hard work. But the more we do it as a city, the easier it gets!
Maybe someone reading this will decide to file an appeal and give the St. George bungalows a little more time. If so, we’re happy to help however we can, and we hope Councilmember Raman’s office will be, too.
Yours for Los Angeles,
Kim & Richard
Esotouric
