Paving Paradise to put up a Parking Lot

Paving Paradise to put up a Parking Lot

by Christina Ramstein

“Don't it always seem to go

That you don't know what you've got
'Till it's gone
They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot”

“Big Yellow Taxi”, Lyrics and music © by Joni Mitchell

If you’ve ever driven in Marina del Rey, you know that much of its boundaries are either water or wetlands. Many of the wetlands are actually adjacent to major thoroughfares and intersections, such as Lincoln Blvd., Jefferson Blvd, Culver Blvd, and even the 90 Marina Expressway. They’re also the borders to a number of housing projects, including condominiums, homes, and apartments, as well as strip malls, business complexes, industrial parks and community resources.

Everyone knows about Playa Vista these days (and if you don’t, and if you live within a 25 mile radius of LAX, then—begging your pardon, but—where have you been?!), where a large strip of native wetlands bordered by the old Hughes Aircraft Company (including the hangar where the infamous Spruce Goose was built) was developed into a mega-sized housing, business and retail complex, now gloriously nicknamed “Silicon Beach.” Playa Vista was the first of such wetland developments that somehow skipped through the system and yet resulted in millions of dollars in profit for developers along what was native land. We’ve all long gotten over the fact that it happened, because, let’s face it: there are too many businesses that are now benefitting the local economy, and housing prices have skyrocketed as a result of its proximity.

But that’s not to say that it wasn’t a blight on the city, and incensed environmentalists and residents alike that it went through. When driving East from Lincoln on Jefferson, what was once a greenbelt is now a tunnel of high rise buildings and construction vehicles and stoplights, and the building continues as more and more development manages to chip away the last of what was left of the lands that once grew wild to the south.

Concessions were made to allow for some of the adjacent land to remain undeveloped. Environmentalists worked hard to ensure the remaining wetlands were kept intact and deemed protected land. West of Lincoln, both sides of Jefferson and Culver are still native wetlands, which grow wild in the spring into a myriad of colors and serve as a natural habitat for a variety of indigenous plant and wild life. There is a small pocket condominium development within those lands that was built in the late 1960s, on the streets La Villa Marina and Fiji, which border Lincoln, Mindanao, the 90 and “Area C”, or the Ballona Wetland Preserve.

I have called La Villa Marina home for over 10 years. We live in harmony with the lands around us, recognizing the necessity of having an adjacent natural habitat as our neighbor. I have raised my children here; they played baseball (and one still does) at the adjoining Culver Marina Little League, they have ridden bikes and scooters on the many pathways that border the Los Angeles River, they run along the jetty and within the area, and thus have grown up in the neighborhood respecting and appreciating the wetlands that surround us. Our little development is bordered on one side by a strip of undeveloped land along the 90 south of Mindanao that, for anyone driving by, appears to be more wetlands. After all, the Ballona Wetlands Preserve is our southern neighbor, and the route to Culver along the frontage road is bordered by the same plant life.

Imagine our surprise when, a few years ago, we learned that the little strip wasn’t more of the protected land at all, but rather was partially owned by the State, while the remainder was privately owned. At first that meant little; the land was unfenced, infrequently tended, and wildly overgrown – as often happens with vacant lands – and the owners seemed to believe (as we had) that it was just a continuous part of the wetlands. After all, a swale weaves through that land that carries water and fertile ground throughout, carrying native seeds from within the protected land back into this private land—and vice versa. There is evidence of California Goldenrod, Mulefat and other indigenous plants growing throughout all of it, and there are no borders outlined along this strip to determine what is state-owned, what is privately-owned, and what is up for grabs.

Now, however, it matters. Private developers are looking to bulldoze two of the parcels directly adjacent to the 90 and Mindanao and build a parking lot for overflow storage of new cars for the Toyota of Marina del Rey Dealership. They intend to literally pave over what has been wild land for decades, dig up indigenous plant life and “relocate it,” chop down numerous 40 year old trees (several of which are on our own private property while others are “on the property line”), and build nine foot walls around that land to ensure their parking lot is secured. No matter that our alley will become a concrete tunnel, an echo chamber of momentous proportions, and all the beautiful foliage our villa currently looks at removed to ensure they can fit all 308 parking spots in as designed.

This land is privately-owned. No one is arguing that. But the fact that the City Planning Office was willing and ready to approve this without going through the proper channels was alarming. There was no Coastal Commission notification. There was no traffic impact study. Neighbors were left in the dark while the landowners dealt with a select few residents on the neighborhood Board who largely had no say or immediate personal impact as a result of what this dealership was proposing. And, worst of all, the Ballona Wetlands Preserve, the Sierra Club, and several other environmental agencies who are supposed to be notified of any pending developments near their protected lands, were not. Thankfully a concerned neighbor alerted them the day before a City hearing, which allowed them to take notice and not a moment too soon.

Developers argue that these two plots of land are not a part of the Wetlands, that they may be adjacent to them but that they remain independent of the Preserve. While that is true in the most legal sense, environmentally that is a very incorrect statement. Wetlands do not just “start and stop” – they ebb and flow, as evidenced by the swale that is a part of the parcels and connects through to both the State owned land as well as the Preserve lands themselves. They carry indigenous seeds to adjoining lands, and are home to many native species as a result.

Beyond the environmental impact, there are other use concerns, such as the traffic impact—which the City was told was minimal. However, these lands are adjacent to one of the busiest intersections in our community, and a bottleneck of traffic already exits. To add a parking lot with ingress/egress right at the intersection of Mindanao and the 90 will undoubtedly put even more strain on our consistently jammed streets, streets where insensitive drivers already regularly block the intersection, prohibiting resident access into/exit out of our cul-de-sac. It also will hinder access for emergency vehicles, which are already having a hard time getting through the intersections and into/out of the nearby hospital as it is.

Another concern is the financial impact. Real estate agents concur that the villas that face the proposed parking lot will notice a 5-10% detriment to their property values. Additionally, during construction the added dust, noise and smell of diesel and heavy vehicles will further decrease sales prices of those directly adjacent to the development. Our own private property will be infringed upon, garage access severely limited, and cement driveways damaged. The long-term impact is obvious, but still we are told “it will be so much better when it’s done.”

Proponents of the project say it will keep us more secure, given the increase of homeless we’ve seen within our property limits. They claim building a parking lot on the land will displace those already living within that land and cause them to go elsewhere. This is a groundless claim. Had the landowners policed the land on a regular basis, the homeless population would not have found a haven within this pocket to begin with. Additionally, the homeless by and large leave residents alone. They panhandle, they rummage through our trash, but they have rarely openly threatened anyone. Building a wall around the property will not prohibit the homeless from simply walking a block further and coming down our ungated alleyways and streets—access that is even more attractive to anyone with ill-intent given the lack of visibility from a thoroughfare and dark tunnel-like dead-end alleyways.

We met with the landowners, although it took us fighting their City Use Permit without notifying us up front to get their attention. We listened to them. We asked questions, many of which they could not or would not directly answer. We heard too much inconsistency, and the only thing that has remained a constant is their intent to pave over what we see out our windows currently and replace it with another asphalt jungle. We were told they’ll do it regardless, so we either agree to a compromise—which will still result in a parking lot, the removal of the indigenous vegetation as well as our trees and a wall surrounding the property—or they’ll simply go forward with a plan that isn’t nearly as “esthetically pleasing” or “secure” as the one currently proposed. (By the way, even with the alternatives presented, our Villa HOA voted unanimously to reject the existing proposal and is determined to keep them from doing anything further without the proper notifications, impact studies completed, and environmental approval.)

I am a fair-minded person. My opinions are generally founded on weighing the facts. And I agree that the landowners have a right to try to find a use for their private land. I would like to be a good neighbor, and find a solution that benefits everyone. But the fact that there have been so many issues uncovered while researching this project have made me very leery about  anything these landowners might propose now or in the future. I cannot say with any good faith that I trust them to have the well-being of our little community at heart as they otherwise claim. After all, they proposed to have this land rezoned without notifying property owners; thankfully, the City was required to do so, or we would not have ever learned about this to begin with. Even the City was astonished to hear that the neighbors and conservationists associated with the adjoining wetlands had not been appropriately notified, making everyone feel very under-informed and puzzled as to the process in general.

So the next time you drive by the 90/Mindanao, you may want to take a second look at this land and remember this little appeal. If you, like many others, would like to see agriculture and wild lands stay a part of our area where we can, then please follow our residents in opposing this development. Call your Council members, tweet them, write them letters in opposition. Contact City Planners, raise your voices, and be heard. This isn’t about politics; it’s about a community, treating neighborhoods with respect and honesty, and banding together to protect what is and should be preserved.

Joni Mitchell’s lyrics aren’t just part of a nice little tune. Realize that they speak for us, and are literally describing what is happening within our backyards. We are fighting to keep what we have before it’s gone.