Westwood : City Council Joins Suit

The Los Angeles City Council has joined Los Angeles County in trying to stop the federal government from selling a portion of the Veterans Administration complex for private development.

The City Council voted to join a lawsuit filed by the Board of Supervisors in an effort to block the sale, which is scheduled for March 27. A federal court hearing on the suit has been set for March 24.

The land, a 2.13-acre sliver of property separated from the rest of the Veterans Administration complex by the San Diego Freeway, has been advertised as being zoned for multidwelling residential use.

But city and county officials said the advertisement was misleading. They noted that the property, once the site of an airport bus terminal, has been set aside for public use under the county’s general plan.

The lawsuit was based on charges of misleading advertising, but the government recently sent prospective buyers a note advising them of the public-use provision.

Heirs of the two pioneer families who donated the land to the federal government nearly 100 years ago are also contemplating legal action in an effort to regain the land, their attorney said.