Arriving at a pre-city council election debate hosted by the Los Feliz Improvement Association, candidates discovered a gathering of a tight knit community that one would expect to find in Small Town, USA, not in the heart of Los Angeles. The patriarchs and matriarchs of the District 4 community congregated in the ballroom of the Autry National Center, ready to digest the platform of all 13 candidates in attendance.

Multiple subjects surfaced, from Griffith Park conservation to budgetary issues. When candidate Wally Knox responded to a question pertaining to the preservation of historical landmarks, however, he nailed the audience’s biggest concern. “With all due respect, this is far too small a question,” he said. “Of course we would all fight to restore historic homes, but the real issue is development in Los Angeles.” The audience murmured in agreement.

Overdevelopment is an issue that pertains to many areas of Los Angeles, but the residents of Los Feliz have particular concern for preserving their quaint 99-year-old neighborhood at the base of Griffith Park.

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Local resident Arnold Sherwood has seen the effects of development and gentrification on the area during his 30 years living there.

“A lot of the little oddball shops that used to exist in our neighborhood have disappeared completely as property values have gone up,” he said.

That's not surprising, considering the median property value has increased $300,000 in the last 10 years, according to the online real estate database Zillow.

Sherwood said that those businesses are being replaced with “hip” destinations.

For example, the building on Hillhurst Avenue that once was home to a Unification Community Center now hosts a new kind of cult following—a dedicated brunch crowd. Current tenant Alcove Cafè and Bakery has become an LA celebrity hotspot and has a line out the door every weekend.

Though the economic stimulation these trendy shops create is not entirely unwelcome, the effects of their popularity have had their toll on the community. Residents complained before the debate that sidewalks have fallen into disrepair, traffic is worse than ever and a lack of parking has become a huge issue. 

Richard Spicer, a lifelong resident of Los Feliz, mentioned that multiple projects have been introduced, but they've fallen through before coming to completion.

“There’s been an ongoing discussion for expanded parking at the Post Office on Vermont and Tracy, but nothing’s come of it yet,” he said. “And last year, Elkus Manfredi came to our town to present a project similar to the Americana or the Grove, but somehow that amounted to nothing as well.”

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Residents also face problems from developers coming in, tearing down old homes and building massive condominiums in their place. Just last December, a historic old Oswald Bartlett-designed home on Kenmore Ave. was demolished after the neighborhood council unsuccessfully tried for months to deem it a historical landmark. A six-unit condominium complex will soon stand in its place.

Just across the street from the flattened property stands a white house with a column-flanked front door. The front garden probably once provided a view of Griffith Park, but a “luxury complex” of apartments to the left of the house now obstructs that sight.

Most candidates on the lengthy District Four ballot hold similar platforms, and many tried to address their spin on development issues during Monday’s debate. Teddy Davis, a Los Feliz native, stressed his loyalty to his hometown and promised a change in the “McMansion” trend that has infiltrated it. 

“If elected, I would move swiftly to close the loopholes in the 2008 baseline mansion ordinance,” he said. “It’s throwing off the character of these neighborhoods, it’s destroying views and it’s messing up privacy.”

While talking with other voters, opposing candidate Steve Veres found that a few voters he chatted with were afraid that “if they missed a [council] meeting, something bad will happen to their home.” Another candidate, Rostom Sarkisstan, emphasized the importance of preserving historical places in District 4, which add value to the neighborhoods.

Crowd favorite Tomàs O’Grady made the best-received point, however, explaining that a solution can exist that benefits both the homeowners and the developers.

“A group of homeowners on Fredonia Drive called up all the candidates and asked them to help: somebody’s going to build something large across the street,” he said. “I responded, and I worked with them. My friend Kevin Mulcahy, an architect, and I filed an appeal. We won, we helped the developer redesign the project, and we all went hand-in-hand back to the planning commission and got it approved.”

Contact Staff Reporter Alana Bracken here and follow her on Twitter here.