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Latest News on the Village!

Playa Vista’s long-awaited village delayed for more than two years because of a court ruling will get another look this week from the Los Angeles City Planning Commission.

Developers hope the panel on Thursday will recommend that the City Council approve a new environmental analysis and package of land-use entitlements that could push the second phase of Playa Vista a step closer to completion.  But even then, it will likely face challenges from determined opponents.

The Village is planned for 111 acres within the master-planned development, bringing 2,600 new homes, 150,000 square feet of retailers, 175,000 square feet of office space and 40,000 square feet of community uses to an area described as “the heart” of the neighborhood.

Residents, many of whom are expected to be in the audience Thursday, are eager to see construction start. This is the exact same project that won Los Angeles City Council approval in 2004.

Almsot all of the analyses that are required are completed. Not only is Playa ready, but the community has been waiting forever for this approval.

Although roughly half of the roads have been paved and the infrastructure is in place, however, continuation on The Village was stopped in September 2007 when an appellate court ruled that its environmental impact report was flawed.

Previously, a Los Angeles Superior Court judge had said that the city and Playa Vista provided decision-makers with adequate information. But the appellate court, which combined two separate lawsuits on the matter, found the environmental report lacking in three areas.

The judges questioned the analysis of the project’s effects on the nearby Hyperion wastewater treatment plant, the treatment of human remains and artifacts dating back 3,500 years, and whether the city accurately described permitted land uses for the site.

On the last issue, the court said the EIR did not acknowledge that the retail complex would “dramatically increase the amount of development permissible” on the land. Therefore, Playa Vista has been required to seek various land-use amendments that will accommodate a higher-density project.

Playa Vista was counting on Caruso Affiliated to develop its village, which will be within walking distance of residences in its first phase, now home to more than 6,000 people. Caruso designed The Grove in Los Angeles and the nearby Waterside shopping center at Lincoln Boulevard and Fiji Way in Marina del Rey.

The agreement has expired by now but hoping he may reconsider.  The project’s revised environmental report has won endorsements from various community groups, including the neighborhood councils of Westchester-Playa del Rey and Del Rey and the LAX Coastal Area Chamber of Commerce, among others.

What: The Los Angeles City Planning Commission considers a revised environmental impact report and various land-use approvals for The Village at Playa Vista

Where: Los Angeles City Hall, 10th floor, 200 N. Spring St.

When: Meeting starts at 8:30 a.m. Thursday

Information: http://cityplanning.lacity.org/