The ever-popular Redevelopment Wars crossed the  supposedly scale-proof wall separating Culver City from Los Angeles  at last night’s City Council  meeting.

At the  end, however, the  City Council overrode the powerfully argued protests of 17 (mostly Mar Vista) residents who live near  the proposed mixed-use/office complex at  12402 Washington Pl.



Lopsided Balloting

The Council voted  4 to 1 to burn past  the protestors. Councilman Gary  Silbiger, who frequently responds to community trends, predictably dissented. 

Oddly, in this newest Residents vs. City Hall fight over redevelopment, the project, as a stand-alone, was almost universally praised as unassailable by partisans on  both sides. They loved its greenness and other condominium-like features.

What unfolded across two hours in Council  Chambers was a scene so  extraordinary it may have been unprecedented — and possibly embarrassing.

Non-Culver  City residents spoke out, a rarity in Chambers.

Visitors Welcome?

A knockout group of perhaps a dozen Mar Vista  residents lifted their skirts, their pants-legs and stepped over the magic-marker border that traditionally seals off Los Angeles from Culver City tighter than  a package of  discount diapers.

Mar.

Vista.

Those two words may never have been uttered before at a City Council meeting, so  foreign has been the concept of talking — or  thinking — about anyone outside of  Culver City.

The army of Mar Vista residents  that hoped   to  block the  four-story, otherwise “ideal,” mixed-use, office condominium development  at Washington Place and  Centinela,  was striking in the almost encyclopaedic  research it presented.

Outstanding Speakers

Perhaps  starting with Michael  and Rebecca Scheffe, but including Christopher McKinnon, Joe  Santana and others, the Mar Vista neighbors delivered information so richly researched that it may have  embarrassed several members of the City Council.

The  insightful, sometimes-arcane, often revealing assertions they made about  traffic impact of the new development showed they also were much better prepared for the meeting than some Council members.

Emphasis on Researched Data

Residents and officials from Del  Rey and Culver City homeowners’ associations, as well as the  Mar  Vista Neighborhood Assn.,  and the  Mar Vista Community Council, poured reams of research into their arguments.

But the Council, except for Mr. Silbiger, was not to be budged.

The  crowning piece of  strategy that assured the project’s passage — if, indeed, it  ever was in doubt — came when the developer, one  Pamela Day, offered her side.

After 17 of 18 speakers lodged  claims against approval,  Ms.  Day, in a breathtaking,  scene-stealing moment, took charge of  Chambers.

At a Glance

Tall, slim and  blond with tall  blond  hair, she  charismatically worked the room with the pearly panache of a polished politician.

Dressed for  the occasion  in a stylish,  form-fitting black pants suit and  fashionably contrasting vanilla-colored shirt, she approached the  speakers’ station, smoothly removed the  microphone from its holder, which almost no one has done before, and  the show was on.

Turning toward the audience,  the lions in her den, Ms. Day, bespectacled, instantly was in control, going face-to-face  with her opponents. If melting  didn’t immediately set in, it  was close behind.

A Greeting to New  Neighbors

A  former New  Yorker who recently moved into Mar Vista herself,  Ms. Day opened by wondering how her new neighbors could  turn on her when she and they wanted the same  things. All  she  was trying to do  was to bring “elegant density” to  their shared neighborhood.

“Elegant density” is a phrase that soon may become a marketing hit with the redevelopment community.

“We are trying to bring a lot of glass, beauty and plants to the neighborhood,” she said.

To those who wondered why Ms.  Day couldn’t  settle for a two- or three-story building, said  she: “You can’t  build something beautiful unless you maximize the space.”

Just  a Drop

By the time she got around to pointing out  that  the  63 car  trips experts  say will emanate from her new building are barely a drop in a bucket of  charm compared to the 56,000 other cars that whiz through said intersection every weekday, the outcome — on the dais — probably had been clinched.

Mayor  Alan  Corlin,  Vice Mayor  Carol Gross, and Councilmen  Scott  Malsin and Steve  Rose were on board  from the start. Mr. Rose submitted a novel concept  himself  in urging approval of the green building. “This project will not  create more traffic,” he insisted. “It will just move traffic  around.”

Why Silbiger Demurred

After Council members had been polled, Mr.  Silbiger stepped up to  explain why he could not make the outcome unanimous.  Like most others in  Chambers,  he  lauded the shape, the contents and  the principles of the project.  But, he  added, “this is not the right time to approve it. There should be more (community) discussion.”