Site for Playa Vista Development : Annexation Plan Sent to Council

The Los Angeles City Council will decide on Nov. 19 whether to annex more than 800 acres of undeveloped land near Marina del Rey, which the owner, Summa Corp., plans to develop into Playa Vista, a community with 18,000 residents, 3 million square feet of office space and 2,400 hotel rooms.

The city’s annexation of Summa’s property--located between Marina del Rey and Los Angeles International Airport--would remove it from the control of Los Angeles County. The city would then have jurisdiction enabling it to have greater control of the growth of the project.

The City Council’s Planning and Environment Committee approved the annexation plan at a public hearing last week and the city’s Planning Commission approved it last month. If the annexation is approved by the council, the proposal would still have to be submitted to and approved by the Local Agency Formation Commission, a county agency.

Little Opposition

City officials said there has been little opposition to the annexation plan, but there has been some concern about the Summa project’s impact on traffic, housing and sewer services.

Patrick McCartney, executive secretary of the Venice Town Council, said his organization approves of the annexation but disapproves of the plans to build high-rise office developments in the community. “We need to encourage housing and discourage jobs and office development in this area,” he said.

Michael Alongi, the executive director of the the Venice Chamber of Commerce, said he supported the annexation.

“Given the fact that its going to be developed anyway, it should be annexed to Los Angeles where it is going to have its greatest impact,” he said.

However, the Venice Chamber is was still concerned about how traffic, transportation and commercial development will be affected by the Summa development, he said.

Understands Concerns

City Council President Pat Russell, who represents the Westchester, Playa Vista and Venice areas, said she understands those concerns and said that annexation would allow the city to apply its own guidelines and standards to the development.

“I have made a conscious effort to make Playa Vista compatible with the needs of the residents,” she said.

City officials said that Summa will be required to pay a portion of the city’s expense for a new sewage pumping station near the project site that will be able to handle more than the anticipated increase in sewage caused by the development, officials said.