The Battle for Lincoln Boulevard
by John
Davis
An important hearing regarding
the widening of Lincoln Blvd. to accommodate the anticipated traffic generated
by the Playa Vista project. The Coastal Commission staff is recommending denial
of the project, but the commissioners have overridden staff recommendations in
the past. See box to the right for hearing information.
If the interested people of Venice really
want to make a difference they will appear as a mighty group at the Coastal
Commission meeting on January 8 and demand the Commission DENY an application by
Caltrans to widen Lincoln Blvd. into what is called by Caltrans a Super Capacity
Highway. Playa Vista will not survive without this massive intrusion of asphalt
into our fair home of Venice.
To many
of us Venice is our home. It is a unique coastal community and many of us who
live here are willing to use the force of law to protect our home. In fact
sometimes there is no other
choice.
First, in order to take action
when you see a violation of conservation laws, you must understand the nature of
the violation and and report it to the proper sector of
government.
In 1972 the U.S. Government
produced the The Coastal Zone Management Act. Latter the Clean Water Act, and
the Water Pollution were all passed. These acts all have the force of
law.
The California Coastal Act, a
State Act, was required by the Federal Coastal Zone Management Act. This is how
California complies with federal law.
I
propose to the readers who would like to empower themselves to first examine the
California Coastal Act. If you have a computer you can download the Act from the
internet, at
http://www.coastal.ca.gov/ccatc.html.
You
should then call the Long Beach Coastal Commission and ask them to be placed on
the interested persons list for any Coastal Development Permits issued by the
City of Los Angeles in Venice. Then if you disagree with the City regarding the
legal status of a development you can appeal that development to the California
Coastal Commission to determine if it complies with the law. Call 562-590-5071,
ask to speak to the Planner for Venice and state that you wish to be placed on
the interested persons list for any development proposed for
Venice.
To get this far, you really
need to read through the California Coastal Act to see what it says. Most of it
is written in such a way that you don't have to be a lawyer to understand
it.
Since the Playa Vista Project was
begun almost a decade ago, thousands of interested persons have empowered
themselves by reading the Coastal Act and have today practically saved all of
the wetlands West of Lincoln (State Highway One) and another important wetland,
Area C, near Culver and Route 90.
If we
do not mobilize and allow this irresponsible and illegal road widening to occur,
life in Venice as we know it will be over. Our community would be encircled by
unmoving gridlock idling and spewing greenhouse gases into our atmosphere and
hurry along rising seal level. Greenhouse gases are not what we want. Venice is
a low lying Coastal Community and we do not want to have to row boats to get
from our home to the coffee shop.
The
Grass Roots Venice Neighborhood Council Conservation Committee approved a
recommendation to the Board of Directors to not widen Lincoln which would invite
yet more gridlock and choking smog.
The
Conservation Committee has made a grass roots alternative proposal not to widen
Lincoln, but to place an elevated light rail system with outboard bicycle paths
from Santa Monica to LAX. The proposal would allow increased access to the
Venice Coastal Zone for recreation and protect small businesses on Lincoln Blvd.
It would prevent unnecessary new emissions of greenhouse
gases.
So, it is time to fight for your
home and your neighborhood. Show up at the Coastal Commission in January and say
no to a Super Capacity Highway on Lincoln and say yes to the elevated light rail
and bike path envisioned by the GRVNC Conservation
Committee.
Imagine being able to ride
to Santa Monica or the Airport on a bicycle over the grid locked SUV traffic
below. Imagine gliding along in a new train to go downtown and being able to use
that commute time for productive purposes instead of horn honking and cursing
traffic.
I hope to see people that
really care about Venice to show up at the Coastal Commission Meeting in January
in full force.
To be kept informed
about conservation issues in Venice you may contact me at the email below. Also,
I urge you to support the Airport Marina Regional Group of the Sierra Club, the
Ballona Wetlands Land Trust and the GRVNC Conservation
Committee.
Send your request to be
placed on the Venice Conservation email list to -
VeniceConservation@Beachsites.Com.
John
Davis is Chairperson of the GRVNC Conservation Committee.
Posted: Wed - January 1, 2003 at 09:08 PM