Fasting for the Wild

While bulldozers lumbered atop a two-story-high dirt mound at the massive Playa Vista development south of Marina del Rey, a lone protester sitting across the street from the construction site was in his 11th day of fasting Thursday, adding his increasingly tired voice to the continuing battle over the project.

Playa Vista’s developers are waging a public relations campaign touting the environmentally sensitive aspects of the project--from the unveiling Thursday of a wetlands observation deck built by a local Eagle Scout to the recycling of building materials from the dismantled Hughes Aircraft plant.

Opponents, meanwhile, hope that work on the 1,087-acre site will eventually be stopped by two federal lawsuits against developers and the government agencies that issued the permits.

But organized public relations efforts and courtroom sparring are of little interest to Paul King, 25, a part-time deejay and former petition canvasser for the Sierra Club. King began a water-only fast Aug. 31 and has spent his days and nights camped between two bus-stop benches at the southwest corner of Jefferson and Lincoln boulevards since then.

“It’s kind of reached a point for me where enough is enough in terms of losing our natural resources,” said King, who moved to the Westside from Texas a year ago. “I felt like an immediate, direct action needed to be initiated. It needed to be more than just holding a sign.”

King has become a lightning rod for everyday passersby concerned about the traffic and pollution impact of the project, which may eventually contain 13,000 residential units and nearly 2 million square feet of commercial space.

King--his face noticeably more drawn and his demeanor decidedly more tired than earlier in the week--still almost always raises a hand to salute the drivers who honk and wave as they pass his flower-and-candle-decked station.

“This man is putting his money where his mouth is,” said Lynn Letart, a Venice resident who has driven past King a few times since he started his fast and stopped by Thursday to bring him some water. “It’s the most courageous thing that I’ve ever witnessed in my whole life firsthand.”

Many other passersby have stopped to give King encouragement, and groups of up to 20 people have joined him at night to talk about Playa Vista and keep him company.

He spends his days doing crossword puzzles and has started reading George Orwell’s “1984.”

“My key focus right now is energy conservation,” he said softly.

King is not associated with any of the environmental groups trying to stop Playa Vista with last-gasp lawsuits. Before starting his hunger strike, he spent several weeks protesting at the intersection, carrying signs like the ones that now adorn his post between two bus stop benches: “Stop the Destruction of Wildlife Habitat,” “Don’t Give Up, It’s Not Too Late. Unite!!” and “I Want My Planet Back.”

He said he wants to meet with Playa Vista officials and persuade them to stop all construction at the site. He also hopes that citizens will pressure Los Angeles city officials to buy the land for public use, a politically unlikely notion that would cost hundreds of millions of dollars.

David Herbst, Playa Vista’s vice president of corporate affairs, said he would be willing to talk to King, but has not heard from him yet.

“If he wants all the development to stop, I would say a big part of Playa Vista is restoring the Ballona Wetlands, and I don’t want to stop that,” Herbst said.

The finished development would be about half open space, Herbst said. Playa Vista officials scoff at the idea that the land is pristine, arguing that only 99 acres have been undisturbed by humans over the years.

In addition to the Hughes plant, the original wetlands were diminished by excavation for building Marina del Rey in the 1960s, farming in the 1980s and other activities. Playa Vista’s restoration plans, Herbst said, will improve and expand the wetlands.

But many environmental protection groups--and passersby who honk their horns in King’s support--don’t buy it.

“He’s right, don’t build!” shouted a resident from nearby Playa del Rey in a green sports utility vehicle as he paused at the intersection Wednesday. “This would be a nightmare for traffic.”

Traffic is not as much on King’s mind as wildlife habitat, which he says will be dangerously constricted by building at Playa Vista.

The DreamWorks SKG studio has also sought to build its headquarters at Playa Vista, though DreamWorks partner Jeffrey Katzenberg has threatened to look elsewhere if disagreements about land prices cannot be resolved soon.

Bulldozers now rumbling on the east side of Lincoln Boulevard are compacting fill dirt in preparation for construction of 3,200 residential units by summer 2000, Herbst said.

Los Angeles police officers and Playa Vista security guards have visited King to check on his welfare.

King said Thursday he doesn’t know how long he will continue fasting.

“I don’t imagine [Playa Vista officials] can ignore me forever,” King said. “I’m a hopeful person. I honestly believe that if you’re fighting for a right cause, it’ll come around.”