By SARAH SHMERLING | Editor-in-Chief
Although they were on the agenda for the December 3 Planning and Land Use Management Committee of the Los Angeles City Council hearing, four homes proposed to be built in Castellammare on Tramonto and Revello drives were not discussed due to a loss of quorum.
The meeting—scheduled to begin at 2 p.m.—was delayed more than an hour as the committee waited to have a quorum, which was lost when members left before several items on the agenda were reviewed and discussed, including the proposed homes, which are formally called the Revello Drive and Tramonto Drive Residential Project.
The purpose of the hearing was for the city of Los Angeles to reach a decision on the EIR requirement for the project, according to a letter sent by Castellammare Mesa Home Owners Association, which is collaborating during the hearing process with Pacific Palisades Residents Association. The community groups have engaged with Victor De la Cruz of Manatt, Phelps and Phillips for their legal representation, according to PPRA President Jessica Rogers.
A Housing Element EIR, which addresses “only the lots on the project site” while not assessing the “impact on the surrounding environment and cannot be appealed,” is being considered by city of LA, while multiple entities across Pacific Palisades are requesting a Site-Specific EIR, which “addresses the environment surrounding the project site, is required by CEQA law for a project of this size, scope and in this location,” according to CMHO.
“If a Housing Element EIR is approved this would set a dangerous precedent for all of LA,” the letter continued. “This includes Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zones, hillsides and landslide areas, including active landslide areas. We are opposing the use of a Housing Element EIR and requesting that a decision to use a Site-Specific EIR be made.”
Residents who made the trip to Downtown LA for the December 3 hearing gave one-minute statements during the public comment portion.
“Because two councilmembers left after 5 p.m., a quorum was lost and no other cases could be heard,” CMHO explained. “[Victor De la Cruz of Manatt, Phelps and Phillips] was never able to speak, and our case was continued. This means our case will be heard at a full City Council meeting. If we are not placed on an agenda this coming week, then our hearing will be delayed until January 2025.”
The proposed development has previously been the subject of several meetings and hearings, including a West Los Angeles Area Planning Commission hearing on November 15, 2023, and special meetings hosted by Pacific Palisades Community Council on May 23 and October 1.
Photo courtesy of Demos Development
The PPCC Board reported in May in a background summary that in April 2023, it learned about the proposed construction of four homes over 12 existing lots along the 17500 blocks of Tramonto and Revello drives at the top of the Tramonto landslide, ranging from 2,619 square feet to 7,695 square feet (each with 2,428 to 6,292 square feet of basement space).
At the time, the PPCC Board was informed of concerns related to the “scale of the project” and the “unstable geology of the underlying slide at the foot of the property to be developed.” The board passed a motion in 2023 calling for the EIR, as well as urging the city to “ensure the preservations of the public’s safety throughout construction and mitigating any construction impact on local roadways.” The PPCC Executive Committee sent a supplemental letter in October 2023.
A landslide that occurred in February of this year blocked the right lane of Pacific Coast Highway at the base of the Tramonto landslide, reported then-PPCC Area 1 Representative Murray Levy, raising “urgent and immediate concerns about the planned construction.”
All of the sites of the proposed development project, Tony Russo of Crest Real Estate—speaking on behalf of the applicant, Springhouse Hamilton Park LLC—explained at the November 2023 hearing, are located within the Tramonto landslide. The city requires the project “must remediate the landslide per code to ensure the safety of the development in the area.”
In the late 1960s, Russo continued, Tramonto was restored to its pre-landslide condition through the construction of a bulkhead, which was later reinforced in 1981. In February 2021, city engineers concluded the bulkhead and tie-back system appear “structurally sound,” according to Russo.
“Ultimately, the project proposes the four residences on piles that will stabilize the landslide and achieve the required factors of safety,” Russo said at the time.
Councilmember Traci Park wrote a letter ahead of the December 3 PLUM hearing “to express concerns regarding” the proposed development. “Key issues raised” by community members include “safety risks due to landslide activity,” “partial slope stabilization concerns,” “inadequate mitigation measures,” “infrastructure capacity” and “unfinished construction.”
“After consulting with community members, different agencies, including our review of the existing record in this matter, our office believes that a fair argument of a potential significant impact from this proposed project exists related to the items we discussed above,” read the letter. “We recommend this project be remanded back to the West Los Angeles Area Planning Commission to ensure the proposed project be reviewed with the benefit of a new CEQA clearance. We further recommend that City Planning be instructed to require that a new CEQA clearance be prepared in light of our concerns that complies with CEQA and is supported by substantial evidence and transmit it to the WLA APC for its consideration along with its reconsideration of the project in light of any new CEQA clearance prepared for the project.”
