The Department of Veterans Affairs considers selling off 109 acres of VA land in West Los Angeles for commercial development as a way of closing up the gaping budget deficit. Homeowners, up in arms over dire projections of traffic overload, put intense pressure on their members of Congress and both California senators to stop the plans.
The year is not 2005 but 1988. And California Sens. Alan Cranston and Pete Wilson, along with then-U.S. Rep. Anthony Beilenson, succeeded in getting a moratorium on all development plans for the site and then passing the Cranston Act, forbidding the sale of that 109 acres.
That was just the first exchange in what has since become a near-constant battle. On one side: bean counters at the Department of Veterans Affairs eyeing some of the most lucrative underdeveloped land in the U.S. On the other side: well-heeled and politically savvy homeowners who oppose most any development and are enlisting elected officials from L.A. to Washington.
“We wouldn’t even be talking about this today if the local homeowners didn’t know how to mobilize. The site would have been developed long ago,” said Fernando Guerra, director of the Center for the Study of Los Angeles at Loyola Marymount University.
On at least four different occasions since the 1988 law, plans to sell off portions of the 387 acres have been halted by this powerful coalition.
The most unusual plan came in 1995, when Michael Eisner and Michael Ovitz, then chief executive and president, respectively, of Walt Disney Co., proposed a football stadium on the site. Local homeowners hired a lobbyist, raised nearly $100,000 and killed the idea.
Local homeowners scored another victory four years ago when then-Veterans Affairs Secretary Anthony Principi shelved a 25-year master plan that included selling off part of the property for commercial development.
But under President Bush, mounting budget deficits have Washington bean counters once again eyeing West L.A. And at the start of Bush’s second term, Principi was replaced by James Nicholson, former ambassador to Italy.
During budget testimony earlier this year, Nicholson would not rule out a sale, pledging to use “sound economic principles” in making strategic planning decisions for the agency’s real estate holdings. He said all projects would be evaluated with a set of criteria that includes “alignment with the President’s management agenda and financial priorities.”
Prospects for development have stirred opposition from 10 local homeowner groups, local business and community organizations, L.A. County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, L.A. City Councilmembers Jack Weiss and Bill Rosendahl, Rep. Henry Waxman (who represents the area), several other local members of Congress and the state’s two U.S. senators.
U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s office received more than 600 letters against plans for commercial development. The letters came from neighborhood councils, the West Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce and other community organizations.
“Thousands of residents, joined by their local elected representatives oppose commercial development of this land,” Feinstein said in the testimony. “It is now essential that the federal government work together, hand in hand, with this local coalition to support their vision of what is best for the entire community.”
Waxman also sent a letter to Nicholson, signed by 13 other local Democratic members of Congress and Feinstein and Sen. Barbara Boxer, urging preservation of the site.
Under existing rules, the Veterans Affairs Department has the authority to determine how to use its holdings, unless Congress steps in to intervene.
And getting Congress to act might be difficult. Local and state Republicans could hold the trump card, especially Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, himself a Brentwood resident.
“If he weighed in, that would make getting a plan for commercial development through virtually impossible,” said Raphael Sonenshein, professor of political science at California State University Fullerton.
So far, the governor has not taken part in the debate.
Henry Waxman
Post:
U.S. Representative, D-Los Angeles
Role:
Congressman representing VA property area. Has taken lead in rallying fellow members of Congress to pressure Bush administration into dropping plans for commercial development of VA campus.
James Nicholson
Post:
Secretary of Veterans Affairs
Role:
As top official at the Veterans Administration, Nicholson has the most direct say in future plans for the federally owned VA property. Faces intense budget pressures to maximize revenues from the land.
Zev Yaroslavsky
Post:
L.A. County Supervisor, Democrat
Role:
VA campus falls within L.A. County jurisdiction in his district. Opponent of commercial development of VA campus has pulled together coalition of local elected officials to pressure Congress and Bush administration. If VA sells off part of campus, he plays key role in determining future use.
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Post:
Republican Governor of California
Role:
Has so far remained out of fray. But as Brentwood resident and as Republican, his stance on development of VA campus could influence Bush administration’s views. Support of commercial development could serve as counterweight to local opposition.
