A community group that sought to block a housing development along the Los Angeles River has reached a settlement with the developer that will allow the project to proceed with some concessions, such as keeping a privately owned park available to the public in perpetuity, the group announced today.
The deal, reached last month, marks an end to the Riverpark Coalition’s challenge of a 226-home development the City Council approved last year at a parcel of land along the Los Angeles River between Wardlow Road and the 405 Freeway.
The Riverpark Coalition sued in December, seeking to stop the project and preserve the area for parkland, based on a claim that the developer, Integral Communities LLC., performed an incomplete environmental review on the privately owned parcel that had served as an oil field wastewater treatment site for decades.
As part of the project, the developer planned to build a 5-acre park that would be open to the public next to the existing Baker Street Park, and the settlement announced Monday formalizes that pledge with a land covenant that will make the area open to the public in perpetuity.
The developer also agreed to construct a sound wall with plants and trees between the park and the freeway to help filter out noise and pollution.
When asked if the Riverpark Coalition considered the settlement a win, coalition member Elena Tucci called the agreement “a mix.”
“You form a coalition to get more park space but you don’t get more park space,” she said. “I don’t know.”
Other details of the settlement include an agreement from Integral Communities that high-quality air filters and solar panels will be installed in the units and a land acknowledgment monument dedicated to the Tongva and San Gabrieleno tribes will be built within the park.
The developer also agreed to build an equestrian rest area, where horses can be corralled and watered. Not building the rest area or the sound wall would require the developer to pay a monetary penalty, but Tucci said it’s the coalition’s preference that they are built.
Another part of the settlement will see Integral Communities pay the legal fees of the coalition and stop using the words “River” and “Park” in combination to describe the project, which had previously been named the River Park housing development.
A representative from Integral Communities did not immediately return a request for comment.
Out of the 226 homes slated for the project, 12 would be set aside for very low-income buyers. Significant remediation is expected to be needed before any homes can be built at the site.
Meanwhile, the Riverpark Coalition continues to advocate for more parkland along the L.A. River, pointing to city and regional plans to develop areas around it for open space.
The coalition is challenging a storage facility proposed just north of the housing development. Last year, a judge sided with the coalition and said that the project needed to conduct an environmental review before moving forward with construction.