More Control Sought Over Expansion at Universal

A coalition of labor leaders concerned about wages and homeowners worried about gridlock is pressing for new, stronger public controls over Universal Studios’ massive expansion plan.

The group is proposing the creation of a permanent body, made up of representatives who feel Universal has been unresponsive to their concerns, which would have oversight authority for the expansion.

The group plans an announcement Wednesday morning, minutes before the Los Angeles County Regional Planning Commission is set to convene back-to-back twin hearings to review the final environmental impact report and the Universal City specific plan, essentially the document that will govern all aspects of the construction project.

The organization pushing for higher wages for Universal employees is CAUSE, Coalition for Accountability in the Universal Studios Expansion.

CAUSE organizer Jason Elias acknowledged that linking homeowners concerned about gridlock and labor unions concerned about take-home pay may not seem a likely match. But, he said, both groups feel their influence in the expansion process has been limited.

Critics have charged that each of the documents amassed during the review process, though weighty, still fail to adequately address community concerns about such issues as traffic and noise. And given the current set of procedures, they complain, there’s not much they can do about that.

“A real mechanism for holding Universal accountable, that will give the community a continued say in the expansion project, is missing from this report,” said Joan Luchs, president of the Cahuenga Pass Neighborhood Assn.

“We need a committee with some binding process, we want it to be more than just advisory.”

A spokeswoman for Universal called the existing proposal “both responsible and responsive to the needs of business, labor and the community.

“What’s really important here is that we’re adding jobs and that we want to make an investment right here at home,” the spokeswoman said. “We really hope that labor and the neighborhoods will work together with us to add jobs and enhance the tax base of the state and the county.”

Ensuring that Universal sticks to the plan is the job of the city and county planning departments and the Regional Planning Commission. Because some Universal land is in the city of Los Angeles and some only in the county, the expansion plan ultimately must be approved by the regional and city planning commissions, the City Council and the County Board of Supervisors.

Larry Friedman, the specialist in the city Planning Department who has been most involved in the expansion review, said the plan calls for citizen input through an annual “workshop” in which Universal would be required to go over each portion of the mammoth expansion either started during the year or planned for the upcoming 12 months.

In addition, Friedman said, if Planning Department members or other city staffers conclude Universal has lived up to its obligation on any portion of the project, but members of the community disagree, there is an appeal process.

That, said Luchs, is not enough.

Pointing out that Universal was allowed to erect buildings in the center of what was originally designed to be a public road near the Los Angeles River, Luchs said: “Until now we’ve been dependent on the city and county and it’s just not enough.”

The labor/homeowner coalition is proposing a group with the power to halt further progress on the expansion plan until its concerns are addressed.

“It may sound unrealistic,” Luchs conceded, “but we have as much vested interest in the area as they do.”

According to Pamela Holt, administrator for long-range planning for the county Department of Regional Planning, the part of the proposal seeking to bring labor into the discussion may be much more than just unrealistic.

“For the employee part, it is our considered opinion that employee relations, salaries, unionization and the like, all of those are not land-use issues and are not germane here,” said Holt. “We only have jurisdiction over land-use issues and this is not a land-use issue.”

As for increasing citizen input, Holt said that concern is longstanding.

She said the county Regional Planning Commission has the authority to set up mechanisms for input beyond the measures now included in the specific plan.

“The question is, whether [the committee] would have veto power or not. It becomes very difficult to have some unelected body with veto power over things.”

Holt predicted the issue will be discussed at Wednesday’s hearing. A follow-up session is scheduled for Oct. 14.