Sepulveda, Westwood Properties : House Opposes VA Land Sale

The House voted unanimously Wednesday to block the sale of 112 acres of Veterans Administration land at two Los Angeles locations.

The measure had been attached to a veterans’ health care bill, which sailed through on a 418-0 vote.

The Reagan Administration has pushed the sale of 80 acres at the VA’s 442-acre hospital adjoining Westwood and 32 acres at its 164-acre hospital property in Sepulveda. The proposed sale was part of a plan to reduce the federal deficit by selling what the Administration considers excess government land.

Opponents of the sale say the savings are not worth the sale’s negative effect. They say Los Angeles needs open space such as the baseball fields for youngsters outside the VA Hospital in Sepulveda. And they say that, as more veterans reach retirement age, the land might be needed to care for them.

Values Weighed

“We are not willing to sacrifice our veterans’ needs and the small amount of open space left in our community in the name of deficit reduction,” Rep. Anthony C. Beilenson (D-Los Angeles) said through a spokesman.

In the Senate, backers were unable to attach a rider onto that chamber’s version of the health care bill, which awaits full Senate action.

Separate legislation sponsored by Sen. Alan Cranston (D-Calif.) has stalled, and aides say efforts now are focusing on keeping the sale blocked in the final health care bill that is expected to emerge from a House-Senate conference this fall.

Sen. Pete Wilson (R-Calif.) will ask GOP conferees to oppose the sale, a Wilson spokeswoman said. She said he has lobbied the White House and Sen. Frank H. Murkowski (R-Alaska), chairman of the Veterans’ Affairs Committee and a chief supporter of the proposed sale.