PLUM Agrees with Residents about Proposed Castellammare Project

The PLUM Committee hearing is held downtown at John Ferraro Council Chamber, Room 340, City Hall,

At a hearing downtown yesterday, May 27, the City’s Planning Land Use Management Committee (PLUM), sent the plans for homes that a developer wanted to build on the Tramonto Landslide back to West L.A. Planning commission for further examination.

The proposed project would allow four new 10,000- to 17,000-square-feet mansions to be built on an active landslide, without first remediating the hill. The developer would not be required to comply with a section of the Los Angeles municipal fire code that requires a minimum 20-foot-wide roadway in and out of the project area for evacuation and emergency vehicle access.

As proposed, the only way in and out of the development will be a winding road that narrows to 12’4″, not enough to allow two small cars to pass each other let alone firetrucks. In 1958, houses and the streets they were on slid down the hill towards Pacific Coast Highway.

This is the top of the Tramonto landslide. One can still see portions of the homes that were left after the 1958 slide. That slide also took out the streets in front of the homes.

After the hearing, one resident wrote “A huge shoutout to Jessica Rogers and PPRA (Pacific Palisades Residents Association) for leading the charge on the letter campaign. Thanks to her coordination, and our team’s outreach across WhatsApp and Jessica’s Nextdoor video, 308 Palisadians sent a total of 5,852 letters to 19 decision-makers – all withing 72 hours!  This was an incredible community collaboration.”

Resident Bart Young wrote in a letter to homeowners and shared with CTN, “The united resolve of this neighborhood to protect Castellammare’s future is what propelled us to victory on Tuesday at City Hall.

“We homeowners need protection from allowing private developers to build huge mansions in the middle of an active landslide and from an unsafe infrastructure of roads, sewers and drains. For over two years our critical issues have fallen on deaf ears at the planning commission who have sided against us in favor of the developer before they even hear our legitimate concerns.

“Today was different. [Councilmember] Traci Park attended and opened our session with a heartfelt overview of the situation and a recommendation for the PLUM committee.

“Payam Mostafavi from Manatt, Phelps & Phillips did an excellent job articulating the legal arguments. Twenty homeowners delivered a series of compelling reasons why this proposed project requires a site-specific EIR (Environmental Impact Report).

“In conclusion, the PLUM Committee is sending our appeal back to the West LA Planning Commission recommending ‘possible consideration’ of requiring a site-specific EIR before any development can proceed.

“So, this fight is not over. This means we will need to make our pitch again, only this time we have the momentum in our favor. The developers didn’t even show up today. If we win at the West LA Planning Commission meeting, it will require the developer (or someone) to conduct an EIR if they wish to proceed.

“We need to be prepared for the developer to either drop their plan or come back with an even bigger plan addressing the entire landslide. They now own 12 lots: not just the four in our track.

“Whatever the outcome, we need to address the infrastructure needs of Castellammare so it can sustain a long-term future. One option to consider is the creation of a Geologic Hazard Abatement District. Over 50 communities in California have adopted this means of funding the prevention, mitigation, abatement, and control of geologic hazards.”