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Desperate Developer Deception
From "Save All of Ballona"--May 1997
Desperate Developer Deception By Rex Frankel When the Playa Vista development was first proposed on the Ballona Creek floodplain in the 1970's, the developers were loaded with the wealth of the Howard Hughes estate. Some locals formed the "Friends" to save the wetlands on the property and 10 years later settled for about half of what they originally hoped to save. After that, a new group was formed to Save All of Ballona. This upset those who settled with the developer, worried that they'd lose what they'd "saved". Recently the pages of the L.A. Times, Argonaut and Outlook have been filled with accusation-filled letters from the head of the Playa Vista development and the "Friends". Our side is misleading the public, they say. The truth is: no one who supports saving all of Ballona needs to spread falsehoods to scare the public. The truth about Playa Vista is scary enough. One can understand their letters' desperate tone: the reality is that the developers of Playa Vista have mortgaged the property to the max, and are about to lose it to the bank. (Another Hughes hi-rise, the 16 story Hughes Center tower on Sepulveda, was just taken back by the lender, the Prudential Insurance co.) So why not blame all of their troubles on an alleged "misinformation" campaign waged by average citizens who would prefer not to breathe Playa Vista's additional ten tons a day of smog, or brave the doubling of rush-hour traffic on Lincoln Blvd brought on by 200,000 new car trips each day? Why not blame nature lovers for protesting the proposed loss of 2/3rds of this natural paradise amid L.A.'s sea of concrete, rather than this developer's own shortsightedness and greed in trying to force this disastrous project on an already gridlocked, smoggy community? And heck, why pay back the bank, which is insured by us taxpayers, when they can pour millions into politicians' reelection campaigns who then give the project a $100 million-plus bailout? Yes, corporate welfare. So with their benefactor nearly bankrupt, I can understand why so many politicians and Playa Vista's "Friends" are desperately attacking anyone who stands up to this boondoggle. I and others have written letters answering these charges but neither the Outlook, Times or Argonaut will print them. For much of the past year, citizens who want to Save all of Ballona have peacefully held up signs and handed out leaflets at the wetlands at Lincoln and Jefferson Blvd. every Friday afternoon from 5 to 6 to let motorists know of the incredible traffic increase this project will bring. We do not obstruct traffic, as Playa Vista's manager Doug Gardner claimed in his letter in the Outlook. To the contrary, I've seen Gardner's security guards park in the middle of this busy intersection to take pictures and videotape us as we express our first amendment rights as we stand on the public sidewalk. I've witnessed several near accidents caused by their guards. Please, Mr. Gardner, don't blame us for your stupidity! Another dopey claim is that the natural habitats at Ballona are degrading away, and if the development is not allowed, the 1/3rd to be "saved" will be even worse off. In fact, the health of the Ballona wetlands depends mostly on the weather. In dry years it appears degraded; in wet years the wetlands are teaming with wildlife. No development will make the wetlands healthier. But what about the other 2/3rds of this natural area? In fact over 1000 acres out of the 1100 acres at Ballona are unpaved and sprouting in a mix of native and non-native plants. Three types of endangered habitats exist here--salt marsh, freshwater marsh and upland/dune areas. Much of the saltmarsh would be "saved" under the developer's plan, but the other two habitats will be mostly obliterated. The other side claims our side is lying, that most of Playa Vista is not a wetland. We've never said it was. We've called it a wetland ecosystem, which is half wetland and half wildflower and sage-covered Upland. Because Ballona is a floodplain, during winter and spring even the uplands contain scattered ponds, which are wetlands according to the legal definition. Yes, there are even wetlands right now within the proposed DreamWorks studio site. Frogs wouldn't be there if it weren't wet. We're not the ones spreading misinformation. Since the current Playa Vista plan was unveiled in 1989, I've seen articles and letters from politicians claiming it has been reduced in size, that it will be "self-contained", have full on-site recycling facilities, and that no tax dollars will be spent on this project. Has Playa Vista been reduced in size from the first plan proposed in the 1970's? No. Playa Vista is still 20 million square feet total, including offices, retail, industrial, hotels and 13,000 condos and apartments. Is Playa Vista "self-contained"? The developer's own traffic studies say it will cause a 28% increase in rush hour traffic on the San Diego Freeway! Will Playa Vista include "complete recycling facilities for solid waste as well as water"? Our councilwoman Ruth Galanter promised this in a June 24, 1991 letter to the Outlook, and also that taxpayer dollars would not be used in this development. Instead Galanter relieved the owners of this promise when she OK'd the first phase in 1993, sending Playa Vista's trash and sewage to already over-burdened city facilities. And then, in 1995, she, Mayor Riordan and Governor Wilson unveiled over $100 million in fee discounts and direct taxpayer funding to widen streets for Playa Vista's huge traffic flows. As part of this greenwashing, the "Friends" attack anyone else who wants to save the Wetlands and the surrounding open spaces both in court with harrassing legal action and in the Playa Vista-loving newspapers the L.A. Times, Outlook and the Marina Del Rey Argonaut. And yet, none of these journalistic beacons will point out that the lawyers who harrass our side and the "expert" biologist who spreads the Friends' pro-Playa Vista propaganda are actually being paid by the owners of Playa Vista. Their salaries total $100's and $100's of thousands of dollars. I have their lawyer on tape admitting this. Reprinted without question are the claims of vast acreages of wildlife habitat to be restored, and wetlands being used to clean up the project's polluted street runoff without the context that 2/3rds of Playa Vista will be developed, and that the street runoff will poison, not protect the wildlife in the wetlands. In fact, vast areas of concrete are being called open space, street medians are being called parks, and existing local parks are being double-counted as Playa Vista's own parks to supposedly compensate for this massive amount of paving. On another front, Galanter has appointed the "Friends"' lawyer, Andrew Henderson, to the City Charter Reform Commission. If history is any guide, this commission will inevitably recommend creating more appointed advisory committees, (with no power to change anything) and raise the council members salaries to help keep them honest. It's no wonder that the movement to split the City of Los Angeles into several smaller, locally controlled cities is growing and gaining support from liberals and conservatives, from environmentalists and small business owners. Elected officials in L.A. City are far too friendly to greedy big business interests, and the real grass rooters know it.
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