Coastal Commission Is Set to Take Up the Venice Dell Community Project on Wednesday
The Los Angeles Department of Transportation has urged the rejection of the Venice Dell Community housing project, recommending alternative locations ahead of a key California Coastal Commission meeting.
The proposed project includes 117 housing units, with 68 for homeless supportive housing and the rest for low-income residents. It would replace a 2.65-acre city-owned parking lot at 200 N. Venice Boulevard, about 1,000 feet from Venice Beach, and add replacement public parking facilities.
The California Coastal Commission is set to take up the Venice Dell Community project on Wednesday.
In a letter to the Board of Transportation Commissioners, LADOT General Manager Laura Rubio-Cornejo cited concerns about the project’s design, which includes 120 housing units and two parking structures with 200 spaces—exceeding required replacement parking. Rubio-Cornejo warned the design would reduce accessibility to the beach, impact parking revenues, and inconvenience the community. She also flagged liability risks, maintenance challenges, and an estimated $22 million construction cost as additional issues.
LADOT proposed alternatives, such as keeping the existing parking lot or relocating the housing project to Lot No. 701 at 2150 Dell Avenue, which would eliminate the need for replacement parking and preserve the current revenue-generating Lot No. 731 for future mobility projects.
The Venice Dell project has faced years of legal challenges, including claims of bypassing environmental and cultural reviews by opponents such as the Coalition for Safe Coastal Development, but those obstacles were dismissed by a judge in May.
