Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Another Weapon of Mass Development Bites the Dust!

The following piece of news is from The Daily News.

LA says 'NO' to Las Lomas development
By Kerry Cavanaugh Staff Writer
Article Last Updated: 03/19/2008 01:21:21 PM PDT

The Los Angeles City Council voted Wednesday to stop processing Las Lomas' application to build a 5,553-home mini-city, essentially killing the development project.

The council voted 10-5 in favor of Councilman Greig Smith's proposal to block the project.Council members Richard Alarcon, Jose Huizar, Bernard Parks, Ed Reyes and Herb Wesson cast the no votes.

After the hearing, Smith said he was ecstatic over the decision."This was critically important at this moment in time for the city of L.A. that we say, No. We can not afford overdevelopment and this is overdevelopment."

A longtime Las Lomas opponent, Smith had crafted the strategy and pushed his colleagues to stop the project, despite warnings from the City Attorney's office that doing so could prompt a lawsuit that the city would lose.

Ultimately, council members overruled the City Attorney's advice.Councilman Richard Alarcon had echoed the City Attorney's concerns and he said he was disappointed the council would open the city to such a legal risk.

Las Lomas Land Co. President Dan S. Palmer, Jr. would not comment on a possible lawsuit, but said he was disappointed."We're going to look at all the options," Palmer said. "Las Lomas is a fine project providing many benefits to the community and we remain committed to it."
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The proposed weapon was going to be in the north end of the San Fernando Valley near the interchange of the I5 and 14 Freeways.It was and is still a huge monster that needs to be fought, even in the probable upcoming lawsuits.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Good for Councilmember Greig Smith and his constituents! Smith indicated the developer had spent 2million for lobbying firms and attorney fees. However, he did not allow the special interest groups to influence his decision. I wish Councilwomen Janice Hahn will follow her colleagues, Councilmembers Smith and LaBonge who second Smith’s motion, lead and stop the overdevelopment in northwest San Pedro.

Anonymous said...

the city is probably going to pay through the nose for this one....

M Richards said...

Thanks anonymous 11:27 AM, But I would rather the City spend the money to defend itself sooner than later when too many folks would have to pay for such an overly large development, for generations to come.

When something is too big, it is too big.

If you support Las Lomas, then if it does get built, then perhaps you will be willing to take the I5 from downtown Los Angeles to downtown Sacremento, and leave at 4:00 PM on a Friday afternoon.

I can almost imagine your curse words.
MW

Anonymous said...

I think Councilmember Smith said it the best. If councilmembers would have listened to City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo’s opinion that Proposition R was illegal, Richard Alarcon would not be here today. It appears there is case law that substantiates the councilmembers (10) position to stop this project. Therefore, I don’t see how the city can be held financially liable.