Coalition to Appeal Approval of Chinatown Industrial Park
A coalition of environmental and community groups has appealed approval of a $40-million plan to turn an abandoned railroad yard near Chinatown into an industrial park.
Joel Reynolds, a lead attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council, said the Los Angeles Planning Department approved the project last month without considering alternatives.
One such alternative, supported by the coalition, calls for a development of mixed uses, including affordable housing, green space and a lake system created by water from the Los Angeles River, Reynolds said.
The existing plan by Majestic Realty Co., the city’s largest development company, is supported by Mayor Richard Riordan. It would create a 43-acre industrial park and up to 1,000 jobs. Eight more acres are earmarked for parkland and other community uses.
The groups filing the appeal, which is expected to be taken up by the Central Area Planning Commission, include Friends of the Los Angeles River, the Sierra Club, the Chinatown-Alpine Hill Neighborhood Assn., the Chinese-American Citizens Alliance, Citizens Committee to Save Elysian Park and Reynolds’ group.
Majestic officials could not be reached for comment.
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