A community group is suing to block the construction of a 226-unit housing development along the Los Angeles River that was approved by the City Council last month, claiming that the project’s environmental review omitted important factors that should have been publicly disclosed.
The Riverpark Coalition, a group that has been advocating for more park space along the LA River in Long Beach, has filed a suit against the city over its approval of the River Park housing development that is slated to be built on a parcel of land north of Wardlow Road on the east side of the river.
In a suit filed last week, the coalition’s lawyers argue that the environmental impact report that is required under the California Environmental Quality Act was incomplete and left out potential impacts to rare plants and animals that may populate the site.
The suit claims that the report also didn’t analyze the potential for future floods along the river, consistency with existing equestrian plans and the loss of future park space if the project moves forward.
The project consists of 74 two-story single-family homes, 99 two-story row townhomes and 53 carriage townhomes, 12 of which are being reserved for very-low income buyers. The project was approved to be built on a piece of land that had served as an oil field wastewater treatment site for decades and requires significant remediation before homes can be built on top of it.
“I think our No. 1 issue has been and is the fact that our city leaders never really follow through on our aspirations and their promises to West Long Beach for more park space,” said Juan Ovalle, president of the Riverpark Coalition.
The City Attorney’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The ratio of park space in West Long Beach is about 1 acre for every 1,000 residents, compared to 16 acres for every 1,000 residents in East Long Beach. The group cited the city’s park strategic plan, which set a goal of reaching 8 acres per 1,000 residents citywide, in its filing.
Ovalle said that his group would be willing to work with the developer if the firm comes back with an alternative project, but he wouldn’t go into detail on what kinds of changes the group would like to see.
“We’ll cross that bridge when we get there,” he said.
The project was proposed by Integral Communities LLC, which developed the Riverwalk residential development in North Long Beach that was also the subject of a lawsuit in 2015 by a different resident group.
The Riverpark Coalition has been fighting development along the river for years and was handed a victory in October when a judge sided with the group in a separate suit over the development of another parcel of land located north of the River Park housing site.
That legal battle focused on the development of 3701 Pacific Place into a storage facility, which was approved by the city without an environmental review. An Oct. 19 ruling found that the project would have to be paused until the developer completes an environmental review.
The River Park housing project, meanwhile, is slated to be built at 712 Baker St., which is located on the opposite side of the 405 Freeway from the Pacific Place parcel.
CEQA lawsuits are commonly used by community groups across the state to block or delay projects, and members of the Riverpark Coalition have acknowledged in the past that suits filed under the state law can, at minimum, add to a project’s timeline—if not block it altogether. But the group’s members insist they’re not anti-development.
“Sometimes people misinterpret that as NIMBYism and we’re anti-development, but that’s not right,” said Leslie Garretson, a member of the coalition. “We’re about what’s best for the community.”
The group has pointed to city and regional plans that have said certain areas along the LA River could be developed into park space, and it cited those plans in the suit as an element that was left out of the environmental review.
But city officials have pointed to significant costs that could be associated with converting certain parcels into parks. A report put out by the city in April 2021, before the council’s vote to approve the storage facility at Pacific Place, said that buying land to develop into park space could cost tens of millions of dollars.
City officials have said the Baker Street parcel was not considered because it was a privately owned lot, and its history as an oil wastewater site means making it safe for open space would be even more expensive.
Part of the proposed housing development, though, would include a new 5-acre park inside the private community that would be open to the public, as well as improvements to the existing Baker Street Park and a nearby dog park.
Ovalle and Garretson said they would continue to push for open space in West Long Beach and environmental justice for its residents.
“We are just neighbors that have grown up here and want to make sure that our kids grow in a better place,” Ovalle said.
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