Judge rules that traffic analysis is accurate
The city acted correctly in approving a new Santa Monica College parking structure, a judge ruled recently.
The decision ends an 18-month old lawsuit brought by the Pico Neighborhood Association that asked the court to prevent the college from using the new 438-space parking structure until a new traffic impact study could be done.
Pico neighborhood activists charged in their lawsuit that city and college officials supplied “fraudulent” and “misleading” information to the city council about the extent to which the new parking structure would increase traffic at the intersection of 17th Street and Pico Boulevard. The council approved the project in 2000.
However, Santa Monica Superior Court Judge Terry B. Friedman wrote in a Feb. 21 decision that the PNA’s claims were unfounded and without merit.
“There is no support whatsoever... for these rather extreme, rhetorical charges,” Friedman said. “On the contrary, the court finds that, taken as a whole, the city’s approval... was procedurally sound and lawful.”
Friedman said the suit was more about Pico residents protecting their neighborhood from the increased traffic the new parking structure is likely to generate.
“The court well understands concerns about possible negative effects of this project on the Pico neighborhood expressed by resident members of the PNA,” he said, adding that he “carefully considered” those concerns.
PNA representatives were not available for comment.
The PNA’s attorney, Lee Grant, argued in court documents that the city said an increase of only 750 vehicles would result from the deck, even though a more recent analysis conducted by the city concluded the parking structure would add almost 4,200 cars to the neighborhood’s side streets.
However, the judge disagreed, saying the all the data gathered indicates the vast majority of students will enter from the Santa Monica Freeway, which is south of the college, and will not drive through the Pico neighborhood, which is to the north.
The new $5.2 million parking structure replaces a similar one ruined in the 1994 Northridge earthquake. Instead of rebuilding the old structure, the college decided to put it in a different location and slightly increase the number of parking spots.
Because of those changes a new environmental impact report had to be completed to study how the changes would affect the surrounding areas.
The study was completed in 1999 by city staff and their consultants and approved by the planning commission and the city council in 2000.
Pico activists never asked the court to force the community college to cease construction of the structure, which is running ahead of schedule and could be ready to open as soon as next month. California housing median prices
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on February 26, 2002. Read the original PDF.