High Court Upholds Ruling in Playa Vista Project’s Favor

Environmentalists hoping to block construction of the massive Playa Vista residential and commercial project near Marina del Rey received a setback Monday when the U.S. Supreme Court let stand a lower court ruling favoring the development.

Developers praised the court’s refusal to take up the 5-year-old legal dispute over a federal permit for dredging on a small portion of the project. Foes vowed to press on with their opposition, however.

At issue was construction of a 26-acre freshwater marsh southwest of Lincoln and Jefferson boulevards that the developers contend will help preserve the rest of the Ballona Wetlands in the area. Environmentalists complain that the marsh would be a poor substitute for real and much larger amounts of wetlands lost to the development and would be nothing more than a reservoir for polluted urban runoff water.

Marsha Hanscom, head of the Wetlands Action Network and the lead plaintiff, said Monday that the lawsuit rejected by the Supreme Court “is only one of our legal challenges” to the 1,087-acre Playa Vista project.

Peter Denniston, president of Playa Vista, said his firm will move forward with the marsh--and the rest of the commercial development. “This is a victory for genuine environmentalists who care about the wetlands,” he said.