L.A. City Council rejects massive Las Lomas development
In a split vote, the panel halts its review of the 5,553-home project near the 5 and 14 freeways. Some council members fear a lawsuit.
A divided Los Angeles City Council voted today to halt its review of the 5,553-home project known as Las Lomas, dealing a devastating blow to the company that had spent six years trying to get a hearing for the mega-development planned for north Los Angeles County.
In a sign that even Los Angeles has limits on the amount of growth it will approve, the council voted 10 to 5 to instruct the Planning Department to stop processing the application submitted in 2002 by the Las Lomas Land Co.
The vote represented a huge victory for Councilman Greig Smith, who represents the northwest San Fernando Valley. Smith had argued that the council had no need to review a project that would flood the region with traffic and yet is outside the city limits.
Las Lomas: An article in Thursday's Section A about the Los Angeles City Council's vote to oppose the proposed Las Lomas housing development misidentified Diane Trautman as a Santa Clarita city councilwoman. She is a candidate for the Santa Clarita City Council.
"This project would have put 15,000 cars a day in an already heavily impacted area," Smith said after the vote. "The people of L.A. said we can't take that anymore. We're tired of it. We don't have to say yes to make a developer rich."
The Las Lomas Land Co. had been waging an uphill battle to keep its project viable, arguing that Los Angeles should process an environmental impact report and then annex its land from unincorporated Los Angeles County.
Even defenders of Las Lomas said they did not like the project, which would have brought a small city to a sprawling hillside just north of the interchange of the 5 and 14 freeways. Instead, they argued that the city already had made a promise to review the project -- and that stopping now would leave Los Angeles vulnerable in court.
"Our city attorney has said that if we fail to move forward, he believes we are in great jeopardy of being sued," said Councilman Richard Alarcon, whose San Fernando Valley district borders the Las Lomas site.
Alarcon voted to keep the project alive, along with council members Ed Reyes, Jose Huizar, Herb Wesson and Bernard C. Parks.
Today's vote delivered the council's most direct repudiation of a major developer since 2003, when it sued to stop the 3,050-home development known as Ahmanson Ranch, a project in Ventura County.
Within the city's borders, the council in recent years has approved more than 5,800 homes at Playa Vista, just north of Westchester, and more than 2,500 homes in Hollywood in the area along Sunset Boulevard, Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Street.
Dan Palmer, the president of Las Lomas Land Co., voiced disappointment in the council's decision, saying his company has not decided its next move.
"We believe that Las Lomas is a fine project providing many benefits to the community, and we remain committed to it," he said.
david.zahniser@latimes.com
