Board to Weigh Appeal by Marketplace Owner

The Los Angeles Board of Zoning Appeals will hold a hearing Dec. 3 on an appeal filed by the owner of El Mercado de Los Angeles in Boyle Heights, who is seeking a variance to build permanent booths for 45 outdoor vendors who sell their wares at the marketplace’s rear entrances.

Supporters and opponents of mercado owner Pedro Rosado’s proposal can address the board during the hearing. After the testimony and consideration of evidence, the board may render a decision that day, officials said.

Rosado is appealing a May 13 decision by a zoning administrator who rejected his plan, ruling that Rosado is “seeking to legitimize a use which he allowed to illegally be conducted on his property.” The applicant, Zoning Administrator Lourdes Green ruled, “has created a self-imposed hardship which is no basis upon which a variance should be granted.”