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Panel OKs plan for post-foster home LONG BEACH — The Planning Commission on Thursday heartily and unanimously endorsed a plan to convert a dilapidated and deserted hotel into the city’s first housing unit for youth coming out of the state’s foster care program. Under an adaptive reuse plan, the 1929-built Palace Hotel will be converted into apartments for 18- to 24-year-old adults or so-called “transitional youth.” The facility, currently owned by the Long Beach Housing Development Company, will rent units for up to 18 months to youths, while also offering counseling, job training and other services to help them become established. Allison Riley, of LINC Housing, which is in partnership with LBHDC on the project, said that of the 1,200 youths released from foster care each year in Los Angeles County, a staggering 50 percent are at risk of becoming homeless. At the present, there is no housing assistance program for these youths in Long Beach. Jack Smith, a local activist and filmmaker who has documented the plight of the young adult homeless, said the project is vital. Smith said many of the young adults who are “emancipated” from foster care are in reality “kicked out and have no place to go, no family support, no support at all.” Youths in the program are required to either work or go to school full time and must pay rent and learn to manage their living expenses. “This is a homeless population that has hope,” Smith said. “This is a group that’s nothing but potential.” The facility will comprise 13 studio units, a manager’s apartment, common areas and offices to help provide services to the residents. There is empty retail space on the first floor and Riley said her group hopes to find a business, like an Internet cafe, that can employ some of the residents. As a hotel, the Palace had a checkered past and was a magnet for drug users and prostitutes. In 1999, a judge ordered installation of high-voltage lights and security cameras and the hiring of a a guard to reduce crime in and around the building. Because the building is now a historic landmark, it can bypass zoning regulations because of adaptive reuse. The historical significance is not architectural, according to historian Stan Poe, who calls the style “brick commercial,” and certainly not art deco as some claim. However, Poe says the building has other attributes that warrant landmark status. “It represents a cultural resource,” Poe said. “It was built for the oil workers to stay, so it represents a building type that has mostly been torn down.” Neighborhood leaders in the area are delighted that the dilapidated hotel may get a face-lift and be put to good use. “We’re so supportive I can’t even see straight,” said Jan Ward, president of the West Eastside Community Association. “We think it’s a pretty good deal.” In other Planning Commission news, the board unanimously rejected an appeal by Larry Goodhue to stop the weekly farmers’ market at a parking lot at Marine Stadium. In fact, the board praised the market held Wednesdays from 2 to 7 p.m. “Anything that brings fresh produce and healthy food to an area and provides a venue where people can meet should be supported,” said commissioner Donita Van Horik.
Copyright ©2009 Long Beach Press-Telegram |
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