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| Another Run at Orchestrating the Arts Facilitated Workshop Planned By Marcia Torrey-Jay, Managing Editor Corralling Culver City’s art interests may prove to be as elusive as herding cats, but none the less, city staffers took a run at it at a recent city council meeting. |
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| The only surprise came early in the evening when State Senator Kevin Murray showed up to announce that the State, along with the recently formed Baldwin Hills Conservancy, stands ready to purchase the prime property with some of the $30 to $40 million in state funds earmarked for parks. Murray, along with former Culver City Mayor Albert Vera, has been in the forefront of an effort to develop the whole of the Baldwin Hills into a giant park that will rival the Golden Gate Park. "This [property] connects well with our vision for a park," said Murray, who currently has a bill in the works to help create the mega park. In spite of some 60 speakers, mostly residents of Blair Hills and their attorneys and engineering experts, council was unable to find a reason to block the permit that will allow the developer, John Laing Homes of Laguna, to begin preparing the ground for the 240-unit luxury development on the north front of the Baldwin Hills. According to Deputy City Attorney Joe Pannone, since it has approved the project and issued a preliminary grading permit, the council has legally no option but to let the developer move forward. Never the less, back in April the previous council agreed to hire a third-party consultant to look over the developer’s plans. The city’s new consultant, GeoSyntrec, made a 20-minute presentation that basically gave a green light to the developers plans. After spending about 200 hours looking over Laing’s plans, the consultant’s spokesperson summarized that there were no new safety issues. Michael Wyland, for the developer, John Laing Homes of Laguna, reiterated the company’s position that the project was safe and viable. "When finished, it will be an incredible asset to Culver City," he said. He also called foul, suggesting that the issue of safety is bogus. Reading from a Blair Hills flyer that talked about creating a park on the property, Wyland said, "This is a well-funded effort to stop the project." He demanded that the city let the public works director "do his job." (Grading permits are actually issued by the public works director.) "We really don’t have a choice, our actions are bound by law," said Councilwoman Carol Gross, after all the speakers had finished. "The project was approved in 1996 along with 225 condition" croaked Councilmember Ed Wolkowitz who was suffering from a bad case of laryngitis. He added that since one of the conditions related to monitoring for methane, that issue wasn’t anything new. He also noted that the council had discussed a park back in 1996 when the project was approved but that the money for the city to purchase the land for that purpose wasn’t to be had at that time. Putting a park there at this point is between the state and Vista Pacifica, Wolkowitz said. "A willing buyer and a willing seller, "will resolve the matter," he said. Councilmember Alan Corlin acknowledged that while he has great reservations about the development, "I don’t know what else to ask." He also acknowledged that he knew of no new information to delay the permit. And new information is exactly what the Blair Hills folks needed to keep the fight alive. With it they could have demanded another Environmental Impact Report (EIR), stalling the project still longer. As in the past, Attorney Jan Chatten-Brown and others raised issues concerning the stability of the steep slopes that are known for mud slides and the viability of the type of retaining wall proposed; the fact that the property sits on top of earthquake faults, most notably the Inglewood/Newport Beach fault; the problems associated with subsidence, the ground sinking as oil is pumped out; and the potential danger of methane gas, also because the property sits on top of old oil fields. Chatten-Brown also warned that the city was leaving itself open to serious legal problems if something goes wrong with the development. "Your indemnification is only as good as the developer," she cautioned. Attempting to add fire power to the arguments of the Blair Hills Association, a group of over 200 homeowners, was a smattering of new troops like Bernard Andres, the geologist that has been a central figure in the Playa Vista and the ill-fated Belmont Learning Center, methane gas dramas. Calling the Baldwin Hills "one of the most dangerous oil fields in the world," Andres said that the area had shown 11 feet of subsidence when last measured, and that there has been no monitoring since the 1960s. "If you haven’t monitored since the 1960s, you’re in big trouble," Andres said. He also claimed that Baldwin Hills is the most highly faulted oil field in Southern California. In addition, over time, Andres warned, people living on top of an oil field will suffer health consequences. But, as Councilmember David Hauptman put it "I kept waiting for the Lone Ranger to come in, but he didn’t show up." Reminded that there was no action before it, council moved on to the next item. |
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