Judge Reverses L.A. Waiver for Hughes Building Complex

In a victory for slow-growth community groups, a Superior Court judge reversed on Wednesday a decision by the City of Los Angeles to allow a massive Westchester office development to exceed mandated density limitations.

Judge Jerome K. Fields ruled that the city’s Board of Zoning Appeals failed to meet requirements of the Municipal Code last year when it granted a variance to Howard Hughes Properties for its planned Howard Hughes Center. The center was to include 2.7 million square feet of office space and a 500-room luxury hotel on 69 acres.

The land, held since the 1940s by the late billionaire Howard Hughes and his estate, had been vacant for many years. One 16-story office tower stands there now, and at least four other high-rises were planned.

Transfer of Density

The variance, according to community groups that fought it, permitted Hughes to transfer “property density rights” from one parcel to another, thus allowing Hughes to upscale the project.

So-called density transfers from less dense parking garages, for example, to much larger office buildings are not allowed by city codes, opponents said. The effects, they argued, would be massive overcrowding, clogged traffic and more smog in the Westchester residential area near the center.

The Coalition of Concerned Citizens, a group representing several Westside associations, sued the city and Hughes Properties.

“The real key is that the city can now have a handle on what can happen on the property,” coalition attorney Barbara Blinderman said after the ruling. “The court said there was no evidence to support the findings of the zoning board. Variances generally are for minor adjustments, not to almost double the density of a project.”

Christine Henry, spokeswoman for Howard Hughes Properties, played down the significance of the ruling. “It had no impact on density. The coalition has tried to portray (the court ruling) as meaning there’s a change in the size of the project. It just means we couldn’t build a taller building right next to a smaller building. It means a design change.”

Henry said the company has not decided whether it will appeal the ruling. A spokeswoman for the city attorney’s office, also named in the suit, said the city also has not decided whether to appeal.

No matter how Hughes responds, said City Councilwoman Ruth Galanter, “it’s hard to imagine what redesigning they could do that wouldn’t require city approval. And I think it’s fair to say it’s a different council, a different City Hall, now than a year ago.”

The broad-based homeowner opposition to the Westchester project was a major springboard in Galanter’s political career. She won election to the council in June, substantially strengthening the “slow-growth” element on the council.

Many Oppose Change

The Howard Hughes Center, along with other major commercial developments planned for the area, angered many longtime residents of Westchester, a sleepy middle-class bedroom community, who do not want the area to change.

The former council representative for the area, Council President Pat Russell--whom Galanter defeated in the June election--became the focus of that anger.

Reports surfaced that her former chief deputy, Curtis Rossiter, was a lobbyist for the Howard Hughes Center and other major developments. At the same time, Russell was actively supporting the variance eventually granted by the zoning board, whose members were appointed by Russell’s close political ally, Mayor Tom Bradley.

Russell said her association with Rossiter had benefited homeowners because it helped her win concessions from developers. That argument failed to help her in the race with Galanter, in which the campaign was generally defined as a fight between pro-grow and slow-growth activists.

“In this project, the corners that were cut and the favors doled out had as much to do with Pat Russell’s defeat as anything else,” coalition President Patrick McCartney, a Russell foe, said Wednesday.