Environmental Report

An environmental group that has supported a proposed downtown Los Angeles football stadium and helped the developer secure special treatment in the courts issued a sharply worded critique Tuesday of environmental documents prepared for the project. In a 16-page letter to city officials, the Natural Resources Defense Council called on Anschutz Entertainment Group to rewrite and recirculate a recently released environmental impact report on the proposed stadium, saying it failed to fully analyze health risks created by cars that would travel to and from the 72,000-seat facility.

A federal judge has blocked plans to greatly expand a small Placer County ski resort on the western shore of Lake Tahoe after finding that the project's environmental review was inadequate.  In a mixed decision issued Friday, U.S. District Court Judge William Shubb ruled that Placer County and regional planners had improperly decided that plans for a smaller project weren't economically feasible. He ordered them to reconsider a less ambitious proposal as part of a revised environmental review under California law and the bi-state compact that regulates development in the Tahoe basin.

The City Council will hold a public hearing Tuesday on the environmental impact report prepared for a proposed landfill north of Lower Azusa Road in Arcadia. The 82-acre site, which abuts homes in El Monte, is owned by E. O. Rodeffer and has been operated by his company as a quarry since 1958. At that time, he signed an agreement with Arcadia stipulating that he work the quarry for 20 years and then convert it into a landfill.

The environmental impact report on hydraulic fracturing at the Inglewood Oil Field was supposed to address key concerns raised by residents of the Baldwin Hills area. Instead, the report has deepened tensions between the oil field's owner, Plains Exploration & Production Co., and the community after the findings were released last week. The yearlong study -- conducted by an environmental consulting firm and paid for by the owner and operator of the oil field -- concluded that the controversial extraction method used at two wells did not affect the environment or health of those living nearby.

In a crushing blow to opponents of the $1-billion Ahmanson Ranch housing project, a Ventura County judge on Friday ruled that the environmental impact report on the mini-city is adequate and said county officials complied with all state environmental laws in approving the development. "The court concludes that the Ventura County Board of Supervisors did not abuse its discretion in certifying the EIR" and in approving the project, Superior Court Judge Barbara A. Lane wrote in her 55-page ruling.

Two groups concerned about massive growth in Los Angeles are challenging the environmental report for the city's General Plan Framework, which serves as a blueprint for future development. The plan was adopted by the City Council in 1996. The city then approved an environmental-impact report in support of the plan.

An Ojai couple who want to build seven houses in a citrus grove will have to redo an environmental impact report on the project to take into account a one-year moratorium on new water hookups, city officials said Tuesday. Joseph and Josephine Macaluso have already spent more than $25,000 on an environmental report on their proposal to build seven houses in a 10-acre orange orchard near Nordhoff Cemetery on Cuyama and Del Norte roads.

The study looking at environmental effects of the proposed San Joaquin Hills toll road is adequate and requires only minor modifications, the Irvine City Council decided Tuesday. The city, a member of the Transportation Corridor Agency, which is planning the toll road, will cast its vote in favor of certifying the environmental impact report during the agency's meeting Thursday at Santa Ana City Hall.

The school board has voted to proceed with acquiring a Lemonwood site proposed for the Juan Laguna Soria Elementary School, despite safety concerns expressed by several parents and community members at a public hearing. After listening to a lengthy explanation Wednesday night of an environmental impact report on the proposed site, the trustees accepted the report as complete and technically accurate.

A draft environmental impact report on the proposed Koll-Leonard factory outlet mall in Camarillo was released Monday as city officials continue to appeal a Superior Court judgment that stopped the development earlier this year. City officials said they opted to have the draft EIR prepared while they continue to battle the judgment issued this summer by Ventura Superior Court Judge Melinda Johnson, which was prompted by a lawsuit filed by Oxnard developer Stephen Maulhardt.

Pasadena would see a significant and unavoidable increase in noise, traffic and air pollution if an NFL team were to play at the Rose Bowl, but the biggest effects would be temporary and manageable, according to a new report released by the city of Pasadena. The environmental study released last week was commissioned by the city as it prepares for the possibility of hosting an NFL team while a permanent stadium is built elsewhere in the region. Officials decided to go ahead with the environmental review on the chance that a team will want to relocate to Southern California and use the Rose Bowl, a decision that is also contingent on approval by the National Football League.

One of the West's most ambitious private water marketing proposals has taken a step forward with the environmental approval ofCadiz Inc.'s plans to sell massive amounts of Mojave Desert groundwater to Southern California. The board of the Santa Margarita Water District, which serves 155,000 customers in south Orange County, voted 5 to 0 Tuesday night to sign off on the project's environmental impact report under state law. The board also agreed to buy one-tenth of the project's proposed annual yield.

Thousands of new homes could be built along the perimeter of a retired Marine base in Orange County that officials envision being turned into one of the nation's great urban parks, according to a proposal being considered by city officials in Irvine. The proposal from developer Fivepoint Communities Inc. would more than double the number of residences that would be built on the property surrounding the Great Park by changing the zoning of land that had been marked for commercial use and offices, city officials said.

An environmental group that has supported a proposed downtown Los Angeles football stadium and helped the developer secure special treatment in the courts issued a sharply worded critique Tuesday of environmental documents prepared for the project. In a 16-page letter to city officials, the Natural Resources Defense Council called on Anschutz Entertainment Group to rewrite and recirculate a recently released environmental impact report on the proposed stadium, saying it failed to fully analyze health risks created by cars that would travel to and from the 72,000-seat facility.

The developer of a proposed downtown football stadium is counting on a dramatic change in the behavior of L.A. sports fans, releasing a report Thursday that bets 1 in 4 ticket buyers would come to the 72,000-seat venue without a car on weekdays. With more than 19,000 vehicles expected to flood downtown for games at Farmers Field, Anschutz Entertainment Group's strategy for traffic hinges, in part, on convincing ticket buyers to travel via the Metro Blue Line, the upcoming Expo Line and other public transit routes.

The California Supreme Court upheld the right of cities to ban plastic bags, ruling Thursday that a full-scale environmental review may not always be needed to prohibit stores from giving bags to their customers. Environmentalists lauded the unanimous decision, calling it a victory for environmental protection. But a lawyer for plastic bag makers said the manufacturers would continue to sue municipalities that impose bans without environmental impact reports. The ruling overturned two lower court decisions and upheld a 2008 plastic bag ban by Manhattan Beach.

Developing real estate in the San Fernando Valley started out as a pretty simple process. There were a few municipal approvals needed, but nothing all that complicated. Today, however, concerns about population density and environmental quality have changed the way developers have to do business.

My notebook runneth over. Sightings from the real estate landscape: ? Still going green. Impaired as it has been by the economy, the home-building industry nonetheless has been making a fair amount of noise in the last couple of years about efforts to be more environmentally friendly. But it has a long way to go, according to a new report from Calvert Investments, a Bethesda, Md., company that specializes in sustainable and socially responsible investing. Calvert compiled a ranking of sustainability practices at the top 10 publicly held home-building firms, and despite giving a couple of builders a shout-out for their improved performances, the investment firm still flunked them.

NBC Universal's ambitious plans for a $3-billion overhaul of Universal City passed a milestone Thursday with the release of the long-awaited city report on how the project might affect neighbors and the surrounding area. Much of the study, known as a draft environmental impact report focuses on the traffic that would be generated by adding nearly 3,000 residences to the famed studio property in the San Fernando Valley. The plans also call for the construction of additional studios and offices for producing movies and television shows, as well as a hotel, shops and tourist attractions.