Perspectives

Playa Vista Halt

Playa Vista Phase 2 Development Comes to Screeching Halt

Playa del Rey, CA (January 23, 2009)

The latest chapter in the long saga surrounding the massive Playa Vista development in Los Angeles is finally closed. On January 22, Surfrider Foundation's South Bay Chapter, and their partners Ballona Wetlands Land Trust and the City of Santa Monica signed a settlement agreement that sends the controversial Phase 2 of the development back to the drawing board. The settlement terms establish that the Environmental Impact Report inadequately informed the public of the foreseeable harm to the local environment from the project. Consequently the City Council's decision to grant development permits and entitlements have been reversed.

"In effect, the City's approval of the Phase 2 development has been rejected by the court and Playa Vista has given up challenging that decision," says Sabrina Venskus, attorney representing the Surfrider Foundation's South Bay Chapter. "One of the unintended, but beneficial consequences of this rejection is it provides my clients an opportunity to seek a more environmentally-sensitive use of the land — thereby improving the quality of life for Playa Vista residents and the Los Angeles community as a whole."

The simultaneous denial of development permits for the project, the collapse of the housing and development industry, and Mayor Villaraigosa's promise of a "Greener LA" leaves the future of the property in temporary limbo. Surfrider Foundation sees this as an opportunity to bail out the developer by working out a public acquisition deal, and opening the door to their long held dream of restoring this relatively small, but critically important part of Southern California's network of coastal wetlands. In effect, Playa Vista residents would get the community serving retail they were promised while raising the value of their investment from the construction of a new passive recreational area, and the community of Los Angeles would get cleaner water, more wetlands and less traffic.

Chairman of the Surfrider Foundation's South Bay Chapter Craig Cadwallader, says the group has advocated using the space for "treatment wetlands" since the project's inception. "Wetlands naturally cleanse pollutants from the City's runoff, re-charge our groundwater reserves, restore critical habitat for multiple species threatened with extinction, and create a beautiful and natural open space for the enjoyment of local residents."

Scientists also recommend creating and restoring coastal wetlands to provide a major benefit in the State's new focus on reducing global warming and adapting to some inevitable climate change. "These wetlands are incredible at carbon sequestration and impeding sea level rise from contaminating our freshwater aquifers," says Alan Walti, the South Bay Chapter's Environmental Coordinator. "It's just one more compelling reason to seriously consider our recommendation."

The future of the land is still an unanswered question. One more chapter in the massive development proposal has been closed, and Surfrider Foundation hopes the next chapter tells a story of major improvements to our coast and ocean and the end of a contentious adversarial relationship between the local community and the developers.