l-robertson

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Playa Vista Coverage

As a long-time subscriber to the Los Angeles Business Journal, I want to commend you on the article on the federal court ruling on Playa Vista (“DreamWorks Nightmare,” July 13). I disagree with Playa Capital Vice President David Herbst’s criticism of the article and his comments about me.

Herbst states the reporter “virtually ignored” his side of the story and bought the environmentalist’s story “hook line and sinker.”

First of all, Mr. Herbst’s claims that Playa Capital wants to “save” the Ballona Wetlands by building a massive new city in and around them has been widely reported. The reporter’s article revealed new information that a federal judge had rejected Playa Capital’s assertions that they were restoring habitat with their runoff basin, stating that such claims were “disingenuous.”

Mr. Herbst stated that I have no environmental credentials. Here are my credentials: I am a 25-year resident of the area, I am a homeowner, small-business owner, voter, president of my homeowner association and an active, concerned citizen. I know that a project twice the size of Century City dropped into an already overcrowded Westside will wreak havoc with the quality of life in Los Angeles.

Mr. Herbst went on to say I admitted in a deposition that I did not know what constituted a wetland. What he left out was that I also stated that I was not a biologist and therefore unable to give the type of expert testimony the lawyer wanted. However, it does not take an expert to know that a project which will create 200,000 car trips per day will gridlock the entire western portion of Los Angeles, including the San Diego Freeway and access to LAX.

Playa Vista is not a good deal nor is it a done deal.

BRUCE ROBERTSON

President

Tristar Investigation

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