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Miracle Mile Spotlight: Milk Jar Cookies

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Miracle Mile HPOZ Update

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Miracle Mile HPOZ Update

 
A prerequisite to applying for a Historic Preservation Overlay Zone (HPOZ) is the preparation of an Historic Resources Survey. According to the Department of City Planning’s Office of Historic Resources:
 
The survey details the historic and architectural significance of the neighborhood and identifies structures and features as either “contributing” or “non-contributing” to the district. A contributing structure is a building that was constructed during the predominant period of development in the neighborhood and that has retained most of its historic features. A non-contributing structure is one that was either constructed after the major period of the neighborhood’s development, or has been so significantly altered that it no longer conveys its historic character.
 
Once the historic resources survey is completed, it is reviewed by Department of City Planning staff for completeness and accuracy. The Department of City Planning also holds public workshops and hearings in the community before taking the HPOZ through the adoption process. An HPOZ becomes effective only after the completed Historic Resources Survey is certified by the Cultural Heritage Commission. Because the HPOZ includes changes to zoning within the proposed area, it must be adopted as an ordinance by the City Planning Commission and the full City Council, following full public hearings.
 
The Miracle Mile Residential Association’s HPOZ Committee is currently reviewing bids from two firms that specialize in conducting Historic Resource Surveys. Chair Mark Zecca and C0-Chair Jeremy Matz will present the committee’s recommendation to the MMRA Board of Directors at their next meeting on March 19, 2015.
 
It is expected that the board will take prompt action and that the survey will commence shortly thereafter. It is estimated that it will take six months to complete the survey of the approximately 1600 properties within the proposed Miracle Mile HPOZ boundaries.
 
The HPOZ Committee’s next task will be to develop a comprehensive outreach and fundraising campaign. The MMRA has limited resources and it is imperative that property owners and renters contribute to subsidizing the cost of commissioning the Historic Resources Survey – an HPOZ will protect the interests of everyone in the Miracle Mile. [See below, "How Density Bonus Laws Cut the Community Out of Loop," for more information on how HPOZ benefits renters.]
 
More details on HPOZ fundraising and outreach efforts will appear in the April edition of this newsletter.
 
If you have questions or would like to participate in helping to secure HPOZ protection for the Miracle Mile please contact HPOZ Committee chair Mark Zecca: phlaidian@gmail.com
 
For additional information:
 
Office of Historic Resources: Historic Preservation Overlay Zones
 
Miracle Mile Residential Association website: HPOZ & RFA Info

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It’s not just the assortment of delicious cookies and the playful rustic touches of the décor that make you feel like you’re back home again in Indiana when you visit Milk Jar Cookies, it’s the personality of its ex-Hoosier proprietor, Courtney Cowan [photo below].
 
Courtney grew up in Indianapolis and she has the Midwestern knack for friendliness and hard work. She came to California pursuing a career in television post-production, but her real passion began long before she left Indiana.
 
“I was always baking as a child. I read the recipe on the back of the bag for Toll House cookies and I made chocolate chip cookies all the time. It was just something I enjoyed doing. And then in my teens I came up with my own cookie recipes and people really liked them. Then after college, and I started working, I’d bring my cookies into the office – and people would mistake them for bakery-made cookies. And I thought, maybe there’s something to this.”
 
Opening her own cookie shop became Courtney’s long held “official dream,” as she describes it – one that became a reality in April 2013 when she opened Milk Jar Cookies. “It was a big leap of faith,” she explains. “I was nervous, but I have the mindset with any goal I have to just put my blinders on and go for it.”

Fortunately, Courtney had previous managerial experience she could utilize running her own business and handling employees. Her Midwestern values came into play, too. “I know I have people counting on me and I have a really amazing group working for us. I found good, solid, and intelligent people. It’s very family-like here. Aside from the quality of our cookies, the customer experience is very important.”
 
There is nothing corporate or cookie cutter (pun intended) about the shop. “Everything is homemade, from scratch, fresh every day, all day long. I also want the employees to really interact with the customers and not sound like robots.”
 
The Miracle Mile was a natural place for Courtney to realize her dream. She and her television editor husband have lived in the neighborhood for four years. They found the shop’s location, stripped it bare, and – working very long days – built it from the floor up. “It was so much fun and so stressful at the same time,” she remarks. “But my husband believes in me and in my cookies. I couldn’t have done it without him.”
 
The only real obstacle to operating a small business in the Miracle Mile is parking – or the lack thereof – says Courtney. The construction of the Wilshire Bus Rapid Transit lane was maddening she explained because the contractors give little to no notice. “We would just show up in the morning and find the street torn up into pieces. It wasn’t very good on the City’s part, it was very disrespectful of the business owners along Wilshire. But, we handled it with creativity, advertising a back-alley pick-up option and brought customers’ cookies out to them.”
 
Though she is excited about public transportation and the growth of the neighborhood, she worries that parking will become even more difficult once major subway construction begins. The situation is worsened by the large infill apartment project under construction in the former parking lot behind the Desmond’s Building, with a similar project to begin soon behind the Dominguez-Wilshire Building. These projects have left employees and customers of these buildings scrambling for on-street parking spots. “My customers often do complain about parking,” Courtney says.
 
But the many advantages of being located in the Miracle Mile far outweigh the challenges she remarked, especially the relationships she’s developed with other independent business owners like Christine Johnson, owner of Miracle Mile Toys & Games, and Rebecca and Sandy Clark, owners of Rascal. “They’re such great people, I’ve really enjoyed getting to know them,” Courtney states. “Everyone looks out for each other.”
 
Milk Jar Cookies has a thriving online ordering business, including their “Cookie of the Month Club,” which they launched a year ago. “Online shopping is clearly becoming one of the favorite ways for people to shop,” she says. “We’re very proud of the user-friendly nature of our website.”

And the brick-and-mortar enterprise is doing well, too. “Our business is growing, every month gets a little bit bigger and better. And the weekends are great; it’s like a party in here.”
 
“That was part of why we wanted to be here in the Miracle Mile, to be part of a real neighborhood,” Courtney explains. “To be a go-to spot, and with that comes the desire to know our neighbors. Once we got a dog, we got to know a lot of people,” she laughs. “It was a drastic difference when we moved here. People are so much nicer in the Miracle Mile. There’s a real sense of community. We love it.”
 
“I always pictured having a shop on Main Street when this was all still just a dream. And a week after we signed the lease here an article came out in the Los Angeles Times about how Wilshire Boulevard in the Miracle Mile is L.A.’s Main Street.”
 
How’s that for a dream come true?

 

 

 

Milk Jar Cookies
5466 Wilshire Boulevard
Los Angeles, California 90036
Phone: (323) 634-9800
Fax: (323) 634-9810
Email: hello@milkjarcookies.com
Website: milkjarcookies.com
Hours:
Sun. 12pm–5pm
Closed Monday
Tues.– Thurs. 11am–8pm
Fri.– Sat. 11am–11pm

 

The MMRA newsletter does not solicit or accept advertisements. Our support of local businesses is a matter of principle ­– for which we receive no financial compensation or consideration of any kind.
 

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A 12-unit condo (foreground) and 45-unit "bonus density" apartment building
(background) under construction on the 700 block of South Ogden Drive.

742 South Ridgeley Drive. Photo courtesy of Google Maps.
 

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Based on city records, the Los Angeles Times estimated that last year more than one thousand homes were replaced by McMansions. To be clear, mansionization is not about big houses – it’s about houses that are too big for their surroundings. That’s why mansionization ordinances almost always set a limit based on house size relative to lot size, rather than picking an arbitrary number. 

Property rights are not absolute. People living on city lots are not allowed to keep horses. They’re not allowed to hold raucous all-night parties several nights a week. And they should not be allowed to build houses that violate the scale and character of the neighborhood; deprive their neighbors of air, light, and privacy; and damage the value of their neighbors’ property.

The purpose of zoning is to promote compatible development. Reckless speculation and development degrade neighborhoods, and that’s why so many communities across the country have passed ordinances to stop mansionization.

Over seven years ago, the City Planning Commission identified ten key actions needed to “Do Real Planning.”  One of them was to “neutralize mansionization.”

Over six years ago, the city passed a citywide Baseline Mansionization Ordinance (BMO) that was intended to achieve that goal.  But it didn’t work. The BMO starts with an overly generous Floor Area Ratio then it layers on loopholes in the form of self-defeating bonuses that guarantee mansionization. Recently, Councilmember Paul Koretz proposed amendments to the BMO that would ratchet down the ratio and close the loopholes. 

Mansionization has afflicted single-family neighborhoods in LA for more than a decade. The BMO amendments would finally put a stop to it. And overlay districts would still be options for neighborhoods with special requirements. Meanwhile, pending Interim Control Ordinances (ICO) could prevent further damage while the amendments work their way through City Hall.

The campaign to stop mansionization has wide support from homeowners, residents, neighborhood associations, and neighborhood councils. The Los Angeles Conservancy built their year-end fundraising around the issue.  Why?  Because they know that Angelenos who care about the character of the city and its neighborhoods want to see an end to mansionization. 

Opposition has to be expected from realtors, developers, and speculators who are making a ton of money. They scare people with stories about loss of property values. But property values in neighborhoods protected from mansionization have held up just fine. Since Beverly Grove got a Reduced Floor Area (RFA) overlay in 2013, a number of houses there have been renovated and expanded in ways that improve the houses and enhance quality of life and long-term property values.

Developers carry on about property rights, but what they really mean is their right to pick somebody else’s pocket: Realtors say that houses next door to McMansions lose at least $50,000 to $100,000 in value.

Developers are strip-mining the city, neighborhood by neighborhood. They make a fast buck and move on. This kind of reckless development violates the city’s goals, policies, and principles. It is certainly not in keeping with a world-class city. 

 

Courtesy of the Los Angeles Times.
 

Shelley Wagers [photo above] is a community activist who lives in the Beverly Grove area.
 

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The Larchmont Chronicle published its 28th annual Miracle Mile edition, Miracle Mile 2015, on March 6. The special supplement contains a wealth of information and articles about the Miracle Mile.

This edition includes profiles of MMRA board member Montrese Chandler and MMRA Treasurer Joseph Steins. Montrese and Joe are perfect examples of the dedicated volunteers that make the Miracle Mile Residential Association such a strong and successful community organization.
 
Chronicle Publisher and Editor Jane Gilman has been an enthusiastic supporter of this newsletter. So, we are happy to return the favor and encourage you to have a look at Miracle Mile 2015.
 

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