Venice developer’s lease Terminated: Evicted by even Bigger
DEVELOPER - Werner Scharff 1916–2006
By Carol
Fondiller
When a long time adversary
dies, it’s as much of a shock as when a dear friend or relative
dies.
I felt a sense of loss when I learned
that long time Venice speculator/developer Werner Scharff
died.
He certainly affected my life and the
social ecology of Venice.
That other local semi-quarterly monthly
on-line paper called him a Venice Patriot, bestowing on him the mantle of Venice
founder Abbot Kinney.
I’ll leave
you to read the L.A. Times obit for an even more paroxseismic, paragyniacal ode
to the departed Mr. Scharff and his good work, such as giving aid to
artists’ businesses.
To his
credit, Mr. Scharff never said a mumblin’ word when Emily Winters painted
a highly political anti-development mural on the wall of his Park Avenue
mini-mall. At one time Mr. Scharff owned about 80% of the Ocean Front Walk. It
was he who led the charge for Urban Removal—whoops—Renewal in
Venice. He and other developers/speculators pressured and conspired with various
public and private agencies and entities, i.e., Commissioners, Saving &
Loans, City Council, Banks to evict low-income tenants, and to condemn the many
small cottages on the Ocean Front Walk and walk streets, and eliminating second
stories from the buildings between Windward Ave and Pacific Ave. These second
stories consisted of single rooms and small apartments. This also halted the
integration of the western portion of Venice. In those post World War II days
there were regulations called restrictive covenants that allowed people to deny
renting or selling to black people. One could be denied housing or rental in
certain areas solely on the basis of race or
religion.
Black people were not allowed
at the beach. Those second stories were being rented to black people—one
of the few places that people of colour were renting near, or on, the Ocean
Front Walk! Building and Safety, and other agencies ordered the destruction of
those second stories.
Mr. Scharff was,
in his taking on the mantle of Abbot Kinney also responsible for the demolition
of many of the old Venetian/Victorian style buildings on the O.F.W. The one
remaining example of that style is the building that houses the Sidewalk
Café and Small World Books.
Mr.
Scharff used his old-world charm to try to widen Speedway, which would have
taken away 20% of the housing in North Beach. He did not succeed in his efforts.
When Mr. Scharff wanted to build his mini-mall on Park Ave., he wanted the
property next to his property, one of the few remaining one-family buildings on
the O.F.W. He would suggest that the O.F.W. was not suited to the elderly woman
who lived there and perhaps the family should
move.
His many ocean front acquisitions
include the Beach House whose tenants fondly remember his thrifty ways. He
replaced the toilet fixtures, but retained the old seats to save money. He still
raised the rents.
One of his dreams was
to build a freeway along or off the shoreline. Unfortunately, this dream was
frustrated by a cabal of tree-hugging comsymp anti-progress community
residents.
When Scharff bought the
Cadillac Hotel on the O.F.W. it was occupied by mostly elderly tenants who had
lived there for decades. After years of attempting to evict them by threats and
harassments, such as prohibiting them the use of the lobby area where they used
to congregate and watch the passing parade on the O.F.W. It was a large lobby
with a huge window facing the front. I remember there was a painting of a
matador on the wall, a TV, a motley crew of chairs and sofas and tenants. Mr.
Scharff in his love for art allowed an artist to put in an installation
consisting of plastic bags cut into strips hanging from the ceiling and the
floor covered in sand. The installation was taken down by orders of the Fire
Department. Thanks to Legal Aid and/or Bet Tzedek, a settlement was reached
where the tenants were allowed to stay, and as each unit was vacated, the rent
would be raised.
Scharff was heard to
say that they were old, and eventually they would all die off. Finally when all
of those bothersome obstacles were rid of, he illegally turned it into a Youth
Hostel and slid it in on a prior use (in the twenties it was a hotel) despite
the fact that there is no parking anywhere near the building.
Perhaps he deserves the title of
Venice Patriot because he clamored for a freeway that would eliminate most of
Oakwood and create a barrier for the, at that time, mostly black property owners
who lived there, denying them easy access to the beach, and thereby enabling his
Vision of turning Venice into Miami Beach
West.
His philosophy seemed to be that of his
long time business partner Curt Simon who expressed his views “You feed
the sparrows by feeding the horses” in a film by that name. In other
words, give the rich what they want, and the poor can eat
shit.
I don’t deny that Werner
Scharff did many acts of personal kindness to
individuals.
He also sat on the board
of several philanthropic organizations, among them the Venice Family Health
Clinic. Perhaps the Clinic would not be so overextended helping people who were
made homeless if Mr. Scharff and others like him had a little less
“Vision” and a little more humanity.
Posted: Fri - September 1, 2006 at 07:00 PM