By now you may have received Jack Weiss’ email co-opting the community benefit fund which was actually conceived of and negotiated by the Westside coalition of homeowners associations.  The full description of the coalition plan can be found at TellJackWeiss.Org.  Jack Weiss’ email read:

Following discussions with community representatives, I am proud to announce that yesterday I secured a 5 million voluntary contribution from the developer of 10131 West Constellation which will provide funds for regional traffic improvements on the West Side as well as funds for local schools, parks, libraries, firefighters, and police. During a hearing before the Planning and Land Use Management Committee of the City Council, I requested that these funds be voluntarily given by the developer. While the full City Council must still approve this voluntary contribution and the project, I am optimistic that this fund will be approved. I will establish a Community Advisory Board with representatives of neighborhood organizations to advise the City in the disbursement of the funds.

The HOA coalition had sought millions of dollars from the developer, JMB, to be dedicated to local infrastructure to offset the real impacts of current and past development in Century City.  The plan conceived of by the coalition was adopted - in part.  This plan, which was co-opted by Jack Weiss as his own, was to have created a fund which would generate interest in perpetuity for the community to offset the perpetual impacts of development, including the impacts of the JMB project. 

There are major differences in the plan as proposed by the coalition and the one accepted by Jack Weiss.

Despite almost 500 requests from constituents and requests from the leadership of all major HOAs around Century City to support the coalition’s plan, Jack Weiss chose instead to ensure that all power would remain in the council office  thereby denying community the ability to determine how best to improve the infrastructure without political influence.

The economic portion of the deal negotiated by Jack Weiss falls short of the settlement negotiated by the coalition in several respects.  Most notable is that the coalition package included 5M up front with all but 250K going to the community benefit fund.  Under the Councilman’s plan, the developer must only contribute 2.5M up front, and the additional 2.5M would be contributed only if  the developer chooses to build the second tower.  This will delay the second 2.5M and its community benefits for years, or even eliminate the 2.5M entirely.  Also, under Weiss’s plan, a significant portion of the 5M will be set aside for traffic mitigations that were supposed to be funded by past development projects.  In simple terms, this means that the community will be “paying twice” for these mitigations.

The arrangement accepted by Jack Weiss also falls short of the public accountability, transparency and predictability that the coalition sought.  Because final funding decision power rests exclusively with the council office, the same back-room power plays that have allowed flawed development projects to go forward, without community protections, will now be another tool of the “powers-that-be” in trying to “influence” residents – precisely what the coalition was working to avoid.  Funding for facilities such as schools, which was formulaic under the coalition plan, can now be doled out based on other motivations. 

The coalition hopes that the fund will be operated so that each facility gets identical funding as other like facilities.  In this way, we can avoid inter-area concerns over inequitable distribution of the funds.

The HOA coalition was also reminded, yet again, that the process of approving large projects in the City is under the complete control and guidance of lawyers and lobbyists.  Political considerations continue to trump community welfare.  Developers continue to have the power to influence and control every organ of City government and have the necessary access to ensure that the City passes projects that should not be approved due to the negative impacts they inflict on residents.  Gridlocked traffic is but one outcome of unbridled overdevelopment on the Westside of Los Angeles. 

In this case, the frustration was coupled with disappointment when counsel for JMB decided to disclose confidential settlement communications, correspondence and other confidential material in support of their client.  They also chose to attempt to tarnish the reputation of hardworking community people with whom they have worked for years. 

Homeowner groups will almost certainly file a lawsuit challenging the City’s approval of the JMB project on multiple grounds.  Central to any lawsuit would be the outrageous assertion that a combined 106 stories of high-rise residential towers, comprised of 1,300,000 square feet with 483 units creates less traffic than approximately 35,000 square feet of a walk-up bank and nightclub.  (The full presentation presented by the HOA coalition can be found here.

With the lawsuit the community will either have a reduced project and proper evaluation of impacts and development rights OR should we lose the suit, some form of the community benefit fund will be in place.  Either way, the community will be better off than it was before.