Development Draws Attacks on Two Fronts : Environment: Bradley and a citizens group join in opposition to project at Santa Monica Airport.

Opposition to plans for a huge commercial development at the Santa Monica Airport mounted Tuesday as a citizens group filed a lawsuit to block it and Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley asked the city attorney’s office to challenge it on environmental grounds.

At a press conference, Bradley denounced the proposal for an office and retail complex on the southeast edge of Santa Monica as “environmentally insensitive” and said it would “significantly degrade the quality of life” for residents of nearby Los Angeles neighborhoods.

“We have got to deliver the message that major developments are going to have to be sensitive to the environment, to the residential areas around them,” Bradley said.

Bradley asked that the city attorney’s office join in a lawsuit filed Tuesday by Homeowners Organized to Monitor the Environment, a group of nearby residents who allege that the Santa Monica City Council approved the development on the basis of inadequate and inaccurate information about its impact on the environment. The suit, filed in Superior Court, asks that approval for the development be rescinded and that a new environmental study be conducted.

The development was approved two months ago by the Santa Monica City Council, and opposition has been quick and strong. Tuesday’s lawsuit is the second to attack the project, and a citizens group successfully circulated a referendum petition forcing the Santa Monica City Council to either reverse its decision or set a public vote on the matter.

The Los Angeles city attorney’s office began a review of the project several weeks ago at the request of Los Angeles Councilwoman Ruth Galanter and Councilman Marvin Braude, who represent districts near Santa Monica. Braude and Galanter have vowed to hold up permits needed for street improvements on the Los Angeles side of the project.

Mike Qualls, a spokesman for City Atty. James K. Hahn, said Tuesday that several legal options are being considered, but no decision has been made on whether to intervene.

The complex, to be built on the southeast corner of the Santa Monica Municipal Airport by the Reliance Development Group, was supposed to occupy 1.3 million square feet when it was proposed in 1987.

But opposition from Santa Monica and neighboring Los Angeles residents over potential traffic problems and other environmental concerns persuaded Santa Monica to scale it back. By Santa Monica calculations, the project now will occupy 822,000 square feet, but planners in Bradley’s office calculate it at 875,000 square feet.

Santa Monica Mayor Dennis Zane, the project’s staunchest supporter because of the millions of dollars in revenues it would generate for the city, said Tuesday that he is suspicious of Bradley’s support for the latest lawsuit.

“The mayor has an obvious need to shore up his base in the community,” Zane said. “It’s a good project. It’s in the public’s interest. This project is being made to bear the political burdens of the region.”

Zane said that he is confident the environmental impact report on the project is adequate, and that Santa Monica officials believe they have already made significant concessions to Los Angeles by reducing the size of the project.

The project would provide money to resolve traffic problems already existing, particularly along Bundy Drive in Los Angeles just east of the Santa Monica boundary, Zane said. Although the project would be in Santa Monica, the only access to it would be from Bundy Drive in Los Angeles.

The earlier lawsuit was filed by a Santa Monica homeowner and a pilots group who claimed that because the area in question is park land, the Santa Monica City Council has no authority to allow commercial development without voter approval. A hearing on a preliminary injunction will be held Jan. 11.

Meanwhile, the Santa Monica City Council on Tuesday is expected to set a date for a referendum election that could overturn council approval of the project. A citizens group took a mere two weeks in early November to collect nearly 8,000 signatures. Only 5,622 signatures, representing 10% of the city’s registered voters, were needed to certify the referendum.