8:43am
The Venice Coalition will lead a walking tour today to outline their lawsuit against the City of Los Angeles’ regarding planning policies.
The Coalition say the city’s development approval process has lead to a loss of community diversity, low and moderate-income families, affordable housing, quality of life, and unique Venice character.
Members of The Venice Coalition to Preserve our Unique Community Character (VC-PUCC) “will take neighbors on the walking tour through Venice highlighting, not gardens, but oversized construction that has relied on Los Angeles Planning Department’s illegal development approval procedures.”
The Coalition says that the use of Venice Sign Off (VSO) and Coastal Exemption (CEX) permits have allowed developers to eliminate affordable housing and unique characteristics of Venice protected by the California Coastal Act and Venice Specific Plan, often without input from community members.
“Nobody but poor people wanted to live in Venice,” said plaintiff Laddie (Celia) Williams. “Now our Craftsmen bungalows have been turned into Lego-boxes and there are fewer and fewer low and middle-income people left in our community. But Venice is waking up to what the City has been doing.”
The tour will last an hour, starting at 4:30pm at 635 San Juan Ave, Venice.
