Environment Los Angeles

A developer who was denied a permit by the Los Angeles City Council to build a golf course near the Big Tujunga Wash is expected to file suit today, claiming the city has illegally denied it the right to develop the land. The lawsuit will probably rely on the legal argument that the city cannot deny a property owner "all economically beneficial uses" of the land, according to sources.

In its final vote on the proposed Roman Catholic cathedral downtown, the Los Angeles Community Redevelopment Agency adopted a number of measures Wednesday aimed at easing environmental concerns over the $50-million project. The CRA board's actions clear the way for the City Council to review and vote on construction of the proposed Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels on a parking lot next to the Hollywood Freeway on Grand Avenue.

In an early victory for the sluggish curbside recycling effort in Los Angeles, the amount of trash sent to landfills from West Valley homes participating in the program has dropped by more than one-third, according to sanitation officials.

As part of a class on environmental education, students from four elementary schools in South-Central and East Los Angeles will grow 3,000 tree seedlings that will later be planted along the route of the Metro Blue Line. The California Transportation Commission will pay for the $35,000 project. The money comes from the State Environmental Enhancement and Mitigation Grant Program, which awards $10 million a year for environmental enhancements related to transportation projects.

The Los Angeles City Council voted Friday to hire a private firm to analyze the environmental effect of having the Community Redevelopment Agency continue its work in North Hollywood. Gruen Associates will study the effect of a plan to give the Redevelopment Agency new authority to operate its 740-acre North Hollywood Redevelopment Project until the year 2014. The agency's ability to use eminent domain to acquire property for redevelopment in North Hollywood expired earlier this year.

After admonishing city sanitation officials for dragging their feet, the Los Angeles Planning Commission voted Thursday to let them set new deadlines for correcting environmental problems at the city-run Lopez Canyon Landfill. The commission took the action despite calls from angry residents of Lake View Terrace and Kagel Canyon to shut down the city's biggest dump, which for years has been a target of neighborhood complaints about noise, odor and dust.

After five hours of often contentious debate, the Calabasas City Council voted unanimously early Thursday morning to oppose expansion of neighboring Soka University. Council members said it would cause gridlock in the west San Fernando Valley and destroy a serene meadow in the Santa Monica Mountains. Calabasas is the second neighboring city to reject the school's proposal to grow from 100 to 4,400 students. Malibu was the first.

The city is offering grants to encourage Angelenos to improve and protect their environment. A grant of $1,000 will be given out in each City Council district. The grants are sponsored by the Los Angeles Environmental Affairs Commission and Southern California Gas Co.

The potential hazards of a major sewer line planned underneath Southwest Los Angeles have sparked neighborhood concern about the effect that noise, air pollution and gas odors will have on residences and schools. Some residents fear their communities will become "the stinkpot capital of the world" during the 2 1/2 years of construction, said one opponent, Minnie Sweet-Goings, who lives in the community of Baldwin Village near Baldwin Hills.

In a double dose of bad news, critics Wednesday attacked the Los Angeles Unified School District's environmental work on potential new school sites and its recent firing of key staff who worked on its massive school repair and construction program.