Fairfax : Mall Decision Delayed

A Los Angeles City Council committee postponed action Tuesday on a proposal to build a 700,000-square-foot shopping center at the Farmers Market.

According to city officials, the delay came at the request of community activist Diana Plotkin, who said she did not receive official notice of the meeting. Plotkin is president of the Beverly-Wilshire Homes Assn.

During the hearing, City Councilman Hal Bernson, chairman of the Planning and Land Use Management Committee, offered no objections to the proposal put together by City Council President John Ferraro, who represents the area.

But he pressed city officials and the developers to provide assurances that there would be adequate parking at the site, where the A.F. Gilmore Co. wants to build a 300-room hotel and 150,000-square-foot office structure in addition to a regional shopping mall.

Under a plan proposed by Ferraro and approved by the Los Angeles City Planning Commission, the hotel and offices would be dropped to minimize traffic impacts.