Two environmentalist groups have sued Long Beach over its decision to allow construction of a self-storage warehouse along the Los Angeles River, marking the latest snag in the years-long battle to develop the 14-acre plot.
Filed last week in Los Angeles Superior Court, the lawsuit brought by the Riverpark Coalition and Los Angeles Waterkeeper alleges the city did not conduct a sufficient environmental review of the project, adding that the analysis of its impacts on the surrounding land was “prejudicially misleading.”
Long Beach City Council members voted 8 to 1 in August to proceed with the plan, billed as a long-overdue step to develop vacant land near the Los Cerritos neighborhood that had in recent years become a public nuisance.
The land, once used as a 12-derrick oil field and a brine treatment facility — afterwards as a golf range until 2007 — is now a blighted industrial site with abandoned cars, contaminated soil and encampments.
The project would build a three-story self-storage warehouse, RV parking and car wash facility at 3701 Pacific Place. In the plan, developers agreed to maintain a half-acre native plant preserve in the north section of the site. They also agreed to pave a trailhead through its southern half that connects the Los Cerritos neighborhood to the L.A. River bike path.
At a planning commission meeting in June, the city refuted some environmental claims, bringing forward its own air and water consultants who said the project would not bring about any significant disruption to air quality or the L.A. River.
Environmentalists maintain that the land serves as a necessary floodplain, meant to absorb invaluable groundwater during the rainy winter months.
Since 2020, the two groups have opposed the project, asking the city to instead make it a park.
Bounded by the interchange of the 405 and 710 Freeways, the land sits within the “diesel death zone” that environmentalists dub for the census tract in western Long Beach where the parcel in which it is located ranks worse than 89% of the state for pollution levels.
“In approving this project, the Long Beach City Council has robbed our community of the opportunity to preserve and enhance much-needed open space in an area that is already overburdened by poor air quality, too much concrete and not enough park access,” said Leslie Garretson, president of Riverpark Coalition. “There are lots of places in Long Beach where this type of project could be built, but this parcel along the L.A. River is irreplaceable.”
As part of the plan, the site would also include a dumping station for RV owners to empty their septic tanks, which the groups worry will contribute towards more river pollution.
The city says it lacks the cash to build a park, citing a 2021 city study that found a similar 11-acre site would cost $27.5 million to develop, on top of the $2 million needed to purchase the land and $250,000 per year to maintain it.
By comparison, the city’s Parks, Recreation, and Marine Department budget in fiscal year 2025 was $85.33 million. Projecting a $57.3 million shortfall through 2031, the city says it simply cannot afford to buy the land and convert it into a park.
One attorney representing the two groups says the lawsuit will likely “kick off a couple of years of litigation.” Their team is putting together an administrative record to present before a court before any hearing date is set.