Press Releases
West LA Residents March to Oppose Massive Proposed Development with Major Traffic and Air Quality Impacts
February 9th, 2010
Westside community leaders marched in protest of a massive West Los Angeles development proposed for a site at Bundy Drive and Olympic Boulevard. The 1 million square foot development is being expedited by Los Angeles elected officials through the City Planning Department, despite the projected addition of 21,000 more cars everyday across Westside communities which will result in 31 permanently impaired Westside intersections.
After hundreds of residents across Westside communities expressed their overwhelming opposition to the proposed “Bundy Village” project, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and Westside Councilman Bill Rosendahl have offered their public support for the development to move forward to a City Planning Commission hearing scheduled for Thursday, February 11, 2010. If approved at that hearing, the City Council would need to override the project’s significant environmental impacts on West Los Angeles residents, as defined by the California Environmental Quality Act, in order for the development to proceed.
West Los Angeles residents feel completely let down at this point by our elected officials who made campaign pledges to reduce traffic and minimize impacts of major developments. Councilman Rosendahl, whose campaign website touted that we need to “refuse to approve major developments until proper infrastructure is in place,” has given his tentative approval for an enormous project that’s expected to irreparably impair 22 intersections in the City of LA and 9 in Santa Monica. Community leaders and residents don’t think he’s seen all of the facts and believe there’s still an opportunity to slow this process down so that the right sized development is put into place.
In recent weeks, the West Los Angeles Neighborhood Council (WLANC), a community advisory body, has held a series of public meetings to discuss the proposed development and provide the City a recommendation about the project. Hundreds of residents poured out to give public testimony opposing the project, which according the Environmental Impact Report, will significantly worsen traffic and increase green house gases and pollution by an estimated 30,000 annual tons. Through a series of legally questionable actions, including private meetings between the developer and board members, the WLANC Board of Directors, conditionally approved the development last Thursday night but called for the size of the project to be reduced.
As community leaders, businesses and concerned residents have yet to have a face-to-face meeting with Councilman Rosendahl, most don’t think their voices have been heard. After all, constituents voted their elected officials into office to support their interests, not the interests of developers.
Several Westside community groups have sent formal letters to City officials opposing the project size and impacts. They include: Brentwood Homeowners Association; Brentwood Community Council; Friends of Sunset Park; South Brentwood Residents Association; Pacific Palisades Residents Association; Westwood South of Santa Monica Homeowner’s Association; Brentwood Glen; Mar Vista Community Council; Santa Monica Coalition for a Livable City; West Sawtelle Homeowners Association; and Pico Neighborhood Association.