Local News in Brief : Apartments Proposed

William Freeman, whose plans to build a 10-room hotel in Harbor City have been stalled for more than 15 months, has asked the Los Angeles City Council for permission to build a 3-unit apartment building instead.

Under a proposed settlement of a lawsuit filed by Freeman against the city of Los Angeles, Freeman would abandon plans for the hotel in the Pines neighborhood in exchange for approval to build the apartments. The proposal is scheduled to be considered Tuesday by the council’s Planning and Environment Committee.

The city attorney has made no recommendation to the City Council on the proposed settlement, and a spokeswoman for harbor-area Councilwoman Joan Milke Flores said she had no comment on the proposal. Neighbor Walt Bethurem, however, said Pines residents have voted overwhelmingly to reject the proposal.

“If you give him three (units), he will want more,” Bethurem said. “I guess it is going to go back to court.”

Freeman sued the city last December after the city’s Board of Zoning Appeals ruled that he could not build the hotel. The board said a hotel would violate the Harbor City Community Plan, which designates the 262nd Street lot for low-density residential uses. Freeman, however, disputes the board’s interpretation of the plan and insists that he has a right to build the hotel.

Freeman has proposed several alternative developments to neighbors since a court ruled in February that the Board of Zoning Appeals should hear the case again. Several weeks ago, neighbors accepted a proposal for two apartments, but in a letter to the city this month, Freeman’s attorney said he could not secure financing for a 2-unit building.