Massive Las Lomas Development Blocked in City Council
March 19, 2008

Councilman Greig Smith's motion to have the City make a policy decision to stop the Las Lomas development, stop the annexation of the land into City of Los Angeles and reject the Supplemental Fee Agreement to allow the developer to expedite the project, was approved by the City Council today. The Las Lomas project was too big, too dense, and couldn’t be planned in a worse place. It would have a devastating effect on traffic and the environment, and would unacceptably strain our water, infrastructure and public safety resources.

The huge coalition of opponents to Las Lomas who came together to say no to this project have our gratitude and praise for stepping up to the plate to defend our community. Residents, community groups, elected officials, Neighborhood Councils, and environmental groups took official positions of opposition to Las Lomas, wrote letters of opposition, and made public comments against the development at Neighborhood Council meetings, City Council meetings and Planning & Land Use Management Committee meetings.

Today was a big victory for the San Fernando Valley in the fight to protect our quality of life and ensure that we focus on the needs of our communities.

Councilman Smith Introduces Motion to Kill Massive Las Lomas Development

Feb. 6, 2008

Los Angeles - Councilman Greig Smith introduced a motion Wednesday, Feb. 6, signed by seven Councilmembers, the maximum allowed, to make a policy decision to stop the massive Las Lomas development. It allows the City to dictate its future land use, and not leave it up to developers to determine.

"This project has been lurking in the dark corners of City Hall for nearly a decade," said Councilman Smith, whose District is next to the proposed development site and would suffer immeasurable negative impacts from it. "It's time to finally take them out of the shadows and stop this project for good."

The motion states: Las Lomas Land Company wants to expand the boundaries of the City of Los Angeles by annexing County-Unincorporated territory, 2/3 of which is located outside the City of Los Angeles' Sphere of Influence (SOI) in order to build a massive development at the confluence of five major freeways.

Unlike proposed projects located within the boundaries of the City, whereby the City must process the project, proposed projects outside of the City boundaries require a policy decision pursuant to the City Charter.

In six years since the project surfaced, the City has not made a formal policy decision on whether it wants to expand the City of Los Angeles in order to build the Las Lomas project and provide the necessary resources to service this new "mini-city." These resources include, but are not limited to: water, sewer, police and fire, power and public works services.

In light of the information presented to the Budget & Finance Committee that questions the appropriateness of a supplemental fee agreement prior to a policy decision being made by the City;

I THEREFORE MOVE that all work on the proposed Las Lomas project stops until the aforementioned policy decision is made by the City Council.

I FURTHER MOVE that the Council pursuant to the Los Angeles Municipal Code (LAMC) section 12.35, which states: ".The Council may establish specific zoning by ordinance for land or territory to be annexed." make the policy decision whether or not to pre-zone the land area before any supplemental fee agreement be considered.

I FURTHER MOVE that if the Council votes not to pre-zone the land portion within the City's Sphere of Influence that all City Departments immediately cease and desist all work associated with the Las Lomas Development by the Las Lomas Land Company, LLC and return all materials submitted by the Developer.

I FURTHER MOVE that if the City should decide to move forward with the Las Lomas project then prior to negotiating or entering into a supplemental fee agreement, the City shall obtain an opinion from all relevant governmental agencies to determine; (1) if the City is the proper lead agency for the entire proposed project; (2) if the City can legally process an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) outside of its jurisdiction in this particular case; and (3) if the City can pre-zone outside the City's Sphere of Influence.