Panel OKs High-Rise Plan Despite Opposition

The Los Angeles City Council’s Planning and Land Use Management Committee on Tuesday approved construction of a high-rise building at Constellation Boulevard and Avenue of the Stars, despite opposition from nearby homeowner groups.

The vote was 2-1, with Councilmen Hal Bernson and Mike Hernandez in favor of the plan and Councilwoman Cindy Miscikowski opposing the proposal.

With its vote, the panel denied appeals filed by three neighborhood groups, which claimed developers have not conducted sufficient testing on traffic mitigation measures and need to recirculate the environmental impact report to the public.

JMB Realty Corp., developers of the 704,000-square-foot, 38-story office and retail project, plan to alleviate traffic congestion in the area by using technology called ATCS, or Adaptive Traffic Control System. The system involves using street-level sensors to monitor traffic and adjust the timing of signal lights.

City Councilman Mike Feuer, who represents the area, said after the hearing that ATCS should be tested before the project, called Constellation Place, is built. “This project might have disastrous traffic implications in what is already one of the most congested parts of town,” Feuer said in a statement. “We need to know the answer before the project is approved, not once it’s too late.”