The formal end of a controversial plan to develop the federal Veterans Administration property in West L.A. came on Wednesday as President George Bush signed into law a budget bill containing a ban on commercial development of the site.

The ban, inserted into the $550 billion budget bill as part of a legislative agreement reached this past fall, prohibits the sale, exchange, long-term lease or development of the 388-acre site on both sides of Wilshire Boulevard just west of the San Diego (405) Freeway.

The VA has repeatedly proposed development schemes for the site to generate up to $4 billion in revenues for the agency, including most recently a land swap.

These moves prompted a united front of opposition, from U.S. Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer to Reps. Howard Berman and Henry Waxman and every local elected official representing L.A.’s Westside. The lawmakers argued that the land should be permanently set aside to meet the needs of more than 1 million veterans in the L.A. area; they had also cited concerns over additional traffic that commercial development would bring.

The Bush administration had been pondering a veto of the budget bill in large part because of the VA site development ban. A White House spokeswoman had been quoted as saying the ban represented a significant loss of revenue. Ultimately, however, Bush decided to sign the bill, which pleased Westside officials.

“Today’s action caps a years-long struggle to protect the VA site of West LA from the kind of development schemes that would have transformed these hallowed grounds into a real estate speculator’s dream,” L.A. County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky said in response to the bill signing.