Council Postpones Vote on Former Home of Marilyn Monroe as LA Landmark

The Los Angeles City Council Wednesday delayed a vote on whether to designate the former home of Marilyn Monroe as a historic cultural monument, setting the vote for June 26.

Councilwoman Traci Park, who represents the 11th District, which includes the property at 12305 5th Helena Drive, requested the postponement. Park had introduced a motion last September to preserve the home after the property owners sought to demolish it.

“Following the recent court decision and pending litigation, as well as ongoing discussions between the City Attorney’s Office and the property owners, I would like to continue the item … for good cause,” Park said Wednesday.

The application to designate the home as a historic cultural monument has been working its way through the city process, receiving approval in January from the Cultural Heritage Commission and later from the council’s Planning and Land Use Management Committee.

The property owners challenged the attempt to secure the designation, suing the city for an injunctive relief. On June 4, a judge tentatively denied their attempt.

Attorneys for real estate heiress Brinah Milstein and her husband, producer Roy Bank, previously filed court papers with Los Angeles Superior Court Judge James Chalfant in which they say the city is violating the law by trying to give the home historical recognition. The pair bought the residence last July for $8.35 million and have obtained a demolition permit from the city.

According to the Milstein-Bank court papers, the couple will suffer irreparable harm without a preliminary injunction. The petition sought a court order blocking the monument designation and allowing the plaintiffs to move forward with their planned razing so they can demolish the Monroe structure to expand their current home, which is adjacent to the property.

The judge issued a tentative ruling in favor of the city, calling the Milstein-Bank motion an “ill-disguised motion to win so that they can demolish the home and eliminate the historic cultural monument issue.”

The couple would not suffer the irreparable harm they claim by being denied a preliminary injunction because the City Council will address the issue, according to Chalfant.

Bank and Milstein filed the petition May 6, alleging “illegal and unconstitutional conduct” by the city “with respect to the house where Marilyn Monroe occasionally lived for a mere six months before she tragically committed suicide 61 years ago.”

–City News Service