Judge stalls plan for Home Depot in Long Beach

A controversial Home Depot project in Long Beach – planned across the street from one of the region’s last coastal wetlands – is in limbo after a judge Thursday tossed out the development’s environmental report.

Los Angeles District Court Judge John A. Torribio ruled that the report was flawed – a decision that represents a significant victory for opponents of the Home Depot Design Center, who said the project would damage the wetlands.

The Long Beach City Council approved the environmental impact report for the city’s third Home Depot in October 2006. But The Los Cerritos Wetlands Land Trust and University Park Estates Neighborhood Assn. sued the city and project developer Studebaker LLC, saying the report contained faulty scientific studies.

Torribio agreed with the two groups on most points. He invalidated the city permits and ordered a halt to planning until the developer received city approval of a new environmental report.

The judge has required the new analysis to determine whether the 16.5-acre site contains wetlands. Also, he asked for more studies on the potential effects on the burrowing owl that lives in the area, and air quality, noise and lighting.

The ruling is a setback for Home Depot’s area expansion plans. The nation’s largest home improvement company sued the city of Los Angeles in November after the City Council revoked a permit for a Sunland-Tujunga store, and a Thousand Oaks project could be undermined by a local traffic initiative on the June ballot. A spokeswoman, however, reports that a Covina-area store will open in April and that a new Compton store “was welcomed with open arms.”

The spokeswoman, Kathryn Gallagher, said Thursday that Home Depot was disappointed with the judge’s decision, but she could not say if the company will ask for a new review or cancel the project. Robert Pontelle, an attorney representing Studebaker LLC, declined to comment.

“It just happened this morning, so we’re basically going to sit down and evaluate it,” Gallagher said.

Attorney Jan Chatten-Brown, whose Santa Monica-based firm represented the project’s opponents, said they hoped Home Depot would seek another site or that Long Beach officials would change their minds and decide the project did not belong next to the Los Cerritos Wetlands.

“The one thing that is clearly known is that they’re not going forward with the project any time soon,” she said.

deborah.schoch@latimes.com