Reaction on Warner Ridge

In telling the Warner Ridge development story, the L.A. Times has reacted more than it has reported. The developers who own the Warner Ridge site are resorting to suing the city of Los Angeles because they were unsuccessful in persuading the City Council to endorse their huge commercial development. They are asking the citizens of Los Angeles to bail them out of a bad real estate investment.

In opposing the Warner Ridge commercial development, I represented the citizens who elected me, while also acting to uphold good, solid planning principles.

The Warner Ridge project would set a bad precedent by permitting an office development east of DeSoto Avenue, a major highway, and a flood control channel--a commercial encroachment into an existing residential neighborhood. Approval would have ignored the community plan’s goal of preserving single-family neighborhoods. With Warner Center right across the road from Warner Ridge, the city’s “urban centers” concept would also be violated.

I support community-based planning in which citizens are encouraged to participate in determining their own future. I believe that elected officials must fight to make sure that the voice of the citizen is heard and that sound planning principles are not overridden by big-money real estate interests.

JOY PICUS

Council member, 3rd District