Lincoln Place Seniors and Disabled Get Two-Month Stay on Evictions
Lincoln Place’s corporate owner, AIMCO
(Apartment Investment and Management Corporation) has granted a two-month
reprieve to 83 households that were slated to receive eviction notices on March
21.
The extension came in response to a request
from City Councilmember Bill Rosendahl that the owner of the property show good
faith to the tenants by halting all eviction proceedings until the end of May.
Rosendahl also announced that AIMCO and
tenants will return to the negotiating table to try to find a resolution to the
crisis there.
Rosendahl said, “I
am pleased that both sides have agreed to try to find a way to end this
intolerable situation.”
“My hope is that they can reach
a deal that will allow all the current tenants to stay there for life under rent
control, and that former tenants will be invited back with the same
protections,” he
continued.
Rosendahl is continuing to
pursue a motion he submitted last month to the City Council directing the
Planning Department to unilaterally record restrictive development conditions on
the Lincoln Place property. The motion is backed by the Lincoln Place Tenants
Association and Venice residents. AIMCO is opposing the proposal. The motion has
been referred to the Council’s Planning and Land Use Management (PLUM)
committee.
The Westside councilman, who
has been battling to protect the tenants since before taking office last year,
said he hoped both sides would choose a mediator for the negotiations by March
10, and that the talks could be wrapped up by April
15.
This will be the second round of
negotiations between AIMCO, tenants, and preservationists. Last fall, Rosendahl
and Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa brokered a series of talks that fell apart just
short of a resolution.At issue in that round of negotiations, and in the talks
to come, were the fate of current and former tenants of Lincoln Place;
historical and cultural designation or protection for the property; the scope
and pace of the process to consider AIMCO’s future redevelopment
plans.
Even if the talks are
successful, the agreement may face opposition from the community where concern
has been expressed over size of any redevelopment and the destruction of
affordable housing units.
Posted: Wed - March 1, 2006 at 04:20 PM