County supervisors to vote on NBCUniversal park expansion
Los Angeles County Supervisors are scheduled to vote Tuesday on zoning regulations that would allow NBCUniversal to expand its Hollywood theme park and add more movie and television production facilities.
The company has proposed spending nearly $1.6 billion to construct nearly 2 million square feet of studio and office space at its Universal Studios Hollywood. Additions would include two 500-room hotels, a new ramp and other improvements to the 101 Freeway and a Harry Potter ride.
The plan also calls for $100 million in transit and roadway improvements, including shuttles, a Metro bus and employee and visitor incentives to take public transportation or carpool.
NBCUniversal executives originally wanted to build about 3,000 housing units on the site, a plan opposed by Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, who was concerned that building housing would limit television and movie production and hurt the local economy. Theme park neighbors also feared it would bring too much traffic to the area.
L.A. City Councilman Tom LaBonge had similar concerns with the original project, and the council has approved the project’s master plan.
If the project gets final approval, NBCUniversal executives have said they plan to begin construction immediately.
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