L.A. Building Curbs Voted in Victory for Slow Growth : Action Will Ease Sewage Crisis in City

The Los Angeles City Council passed a strict measure today that will cut development in the city by up to 30% to avert a sewage crisis brought on because city officials did not expand the sewer system to keep pace with growth.

By a 12-1 vote the Council approved a plan to ration building permits in the city that was proposed in December by Mayor Tom Bradley. The Bradley measure was amended several times in recent weeks by the Council to exempt some major developments from the controls.

“This city, just like everybody else, has realized you have to live within your means,” Deputy Mayor Mike Gage said after the vote. “We’re not shutting down the city, we’re not saying no more development.”

Bradley is in Australia today on a trade trip with city officials, but Gage said the mayor will sign the law Monday. Once signed, its provisions will take effect retroactive to April 19, Asst. City Atty. John F. Haggarty said.

The law will limit the number of building permits issued in any month in an effort to slow down the flow of increased sewage into the city’s Hyperion treatment plant, which is nearing its capacity.

Gage said the controls will only be needed until mid-1991 when city officials hope to complete the expansion of the Tillman Water Reclamation Plant in Van Nuys, which will add a significant share of new capacity to the sewage system.

However, the law passed today is itself considered a temporary measure that will remain in force for only nine months. By the end of that time, the City Council will have to approve a long-term ordinance or else the controls may lapse. Before the long-term measure can be passed, an environmental impact report must be completed.

The law won approval today after several stormy Council meetings in the last month that saw Council members tack on amendments to allow exemptions for development projects they favor. But the final measure retains the same basic growth limits that the mayor sought.

On the advice of city engineers, Bradley proposed that new construction not increase the average daily flow through the sewers by more than 7 million gallons each year. In the last two years the daily load on the sewers has risen about 10 million gallons a year, and if the demand to build remains at the same high level the Council action today will reduce construction by 30%.

Under the law passed today, construction within the city of Los Angeles itself will be allowed to add 5 million gallons to the daily flow every year. City officials estimate that another 1 million gallons a day will be added each year from population growth in the city even if building is stopped.