The Los Angeles Cultural and Historical Heritage Commission
overturned a motion Wednesday to expand the Westwood Village
Memorial Park by adding a mausoleum that would house over 400
bodies, said a commission staff member.
The park was declared a City of Los Angeles historic-cultural
monument in October, after nearby residents organized opposition
against the cemetery owners to regulate construction in the fear
that its history would be desecrated.
The declaration of the park means that all development plans
must go through and be approved by the Cultural and Historical
Heritage Commission.
Since the plans for the what would have been mausoleum were
denied by the commission, developers have no less than 30, but no
more than 180 days to revise the plans.
Service Corporation International, which bought the cemetery in
1996, and had development plans, is the “largest provider of
cemetery and funeral services in North America,” according to
their Web site.
Before the cemetery was deemed a monument, many people living
near the memorial park, south of Wilshire Boulevard on Glendon
Avenue, had assumed it was already a monument and were worried
about the owners’ plans to expand the cemetery.
Tammy Hoffs, president of the Friends of the Westwood Village
Memorial Park, said a flyer was found on the cemetery grounds
alerting a resident of the plans for future development of a crypt
eighteen feet high, housing 16,000 corpses 10 feet from property
lines.
Because the cemetery is a special place for family members of
those buried there, many people did not want to see it be
overdeveloped.
Westwood Village Memorial Park has been in Westwood since the
area was ranchland in the early 1800s, and survived a development
boom and bust early in its history.
Today the cemetery is a quiet spot in the midst of urban sprawl
and bustle.
The 2.9 acre park has laid to rest Civil and Spanish American
war veterans, as well as famous actors and actresses, such as
Natalie Wood and Marilyn Monroe. With upwards of $200,00 per grave,
the park has some of the most expensive real estate in L.A., Hoffs
said.
Policies constitute that there must be a 300-foot area between
residential property lines and cemetery structures, but SCI applied
for wavers for development, Hoffs said.
“Nobody lives in a city assuming there will be no
building, we just wanted it regulated,” Hoffs said.
Residents and family members united to research the history of
the park and find grounds for its designation as a monument.
Hoffs said family members of those buried in the cemetery, such
as Audrey Wilder and Robert Wagner, advocated for monument status
by sending letters and speaking at a Cultural and Historical
Committee meeting, which voted on the subject.
After concerns were researched, the Cultural and Historical
Heritage Commission sent a five member committee to the cemetery to
inspect the grounds. A report was made, the nomination was approved
by a vote, and sent to the L.A. City Council.
The decision, originally scheduled for Oct. 9 was postponed, but
the approval for monument status was made on Oct. 15 by the city
council. This motion means that the Cultural Heritage Commission
has the right to review any future building permit applications by
the SCI.
“Now they won’t be allowed to sneak around and
build,” she said.
SCI felt the designation was unmerited and representative Greg
Bolton said, "We didn’t see it as a historical monument but if they
designate it that, so be it."