Residents Give Up Fight Over Fairfax Widening

Homeowners opposed to a controversial plan to widen a residential stretch of Fairfax Avenue have given up hopes of blocking the project because they cannot raise enough money to fight it in court.

“We all feel bad about it, but we just don’t have those kinds of funds,” said James Brooks, a leading opponent of the project. “It is over now. We have no other way of stopping it.”

Last month, when the Los Angeles City Council voted to widen the heavily traveled road between Venice and Pico boulevards, Brooks and other homeowners along the 3/4-mile stretch said they would seek a court injunction to temporarily block work. They said they would also file suit to permanently stop the project.

Lack of Money

Brooks said last week, however, that private attorneys advised him that the group would need between $10,000 and $30,000 to pursue the case. He said he was unable to find an attorney who would take the case for no charge.

“Right now, we have raised about $500,” Brooks said. “The bottom line is that people around here just don’t have that kind of money. A good number of the people against the project are retired.”

In winning council approval for the project, city transportation and engineering officials said the street needs to be widened by 10 to 16 feet through the neighborhood to provide a continuous left-turn lane as well as curb-side parking on both sides.

The officials said the changes were needed to keep traffic moving through the congested corridor, which is a major link between the Santa Monica Freeway and commercial areas to the north.

Brooks’ group, however, argued that the project would destroy the residential character of their neighborhood by taking large hunks from city-owned parkways in front of their homes and inviting more motorists to use Fairfax.

Residents’ Compromise

They proposed that about half of the stretch--the area south of Airdrome Street--not be widened and that the segment north of Airdrome by widened by just 6 feet. Under the residents’ proposal, the entire stretch would be 36 feet rather than the 46 feet proposed by the city.

City officials said they would lose federal funding for the $1.3-million project if they opted for a narrower version, and Councilman Nate Holden, who represents the area, said he collected 500 signatures of nearby residents who favored the city’s proposal. Brooks and his neighbors collected about 130 signatures of residents in support of a 36-foot roadway.

In an interview last week, Holden said City Council support for the 46-foot project was in line with the wishes of most residents in the area around Fairfax Avenue.

“I think everyone will be happy in the long run,” he said.

But last week, as crews outside his home were moving underground utilities to make way for the project, Brooks said he still fears for his neighborhood.

“Holden seems to think we are going to like it, but I have news for him,” Brooks said. “Traffic is heavy as it is. It is only going to get worse.”