Ballona Wetlands

In her letter of May 21, Frances Longmire’s description of our settlement with Maguire Thomas Partners misstates the terms of the agreement. Far from “silent,” the Friends have played a primary role in planning the restoration at the Ballona Wetlands. We have also been critical of parts of the Playa Vista plan. For instance, we have voiced our objection to a marina in Area A.

And far from a “small fraction” of wetland, we’ll be restoring and creating more wetland than any government agency has delineated at Ballona--188 acres was the maximum delineation and we will have a 190-acre wetland, plus dunes, a freshwater marsh, a riparian corridor and upland habitat for a total of 285 acres.

Had we taken on our lawsuit against the previous Playa Vista Plan in 1995 instead of 1978, we would face an even more development-oriented Coastal Commission, a hostile, private property-biased judiciary and an eviscerated Clean Water Act. Our projections indicate that, under the proposed new regulations, we would be unable to protect more than 50 acres. We consider ourselves lucky to have achieved an agreement that not only gives us a restored wetland, but does not require any expenditure of public funds.

RUTH LANSFORD

Friends of Ballona Wetlands

Playa del Rey