Santa Monica College’s new garage could be parked during lawsuit
A $5.2 million community college parking garage could sit empty if activists convince a judge that city officials supplied misleading information before the project was approved.
The Pico Neighborhood Association sued the city and the Santa Monica College over anticipated traffic impacts of a new 438-space parking deck at the corner of Pico Boulevard and 17th Street. Residents on the east side of Santa Monica believe their neighborhood will be overloaded with cars when the structure opens next month.
Attorneys for the city and the college say they performed a thorough traffic study and found that the parking garage would generate only a small increase in traffic. According to their study, the brunt of traffic traveling to the new garage would come from the Santa Monica Freeway.
The 18-month old lawsuit, heard Monday in Santa Monica Superior Court before Judge Terry B. Friedman, asks the court to prevent the structure from being used until a new traffic study can be completed. Judge Friedman is expected to make a decision next week.
“When we get an accurate measurement, we can develop proper ways to mitigate the damage being done to our neighborhoods,” said Don Gray, Pico activists never asked the court to force SMC to stop building the structure.
“We’re not saying tear down the parking deck and move it someplace else. We just want an accurate study of the traffic here.”
“We’re not saying tear down the parking deck and move it someplace else. We just want an accurate study of the traffic here.” — vice-chair of the Pico Neighborhood Association. — DON GRAY Pico Neighborhood Association, vice-chairman
“The reason why their lawsuit is purely theoretical is because they didn’t seek an injunction blocking construction of the parking structure,” said Cara Silver, deputy city attorney.
The new structure will replace a similar one ruined in the 1994 Northridge earthquake. Instead of replacing the old structure, the college decided to build in a different location and increase the number of parking spaces.
As a result, a new environmental impact review had to be completed to study how the changes would affect the surrounding areas. The study was completed in 1999 and approved by the city council in 2000.
Pico activists say the report indicates 750 new vehicles would come through the intersection of Pico Boulevard and 17th Street, but they claim another traffic study performed in March 2001 shows nearly seven times that amount.
Attorneys for the city and the college say the March report studied 17th Street as a whole and not just the intersection at Pico Boulevard. They say the two numbers represent entirely different studies and can’t be compared to each other.
Silver said after the city council approved the environmental impact review, the law prevents newer data from affecting the judge’s decision.
“The data collected last March can’t be considered,” she said. “End of story.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on February 6, 2002. Read the original PDF.