The Las Lomas landscape

Re “Dumb growth,” editorial, Feb. 21

The Times is correct that there are lots of questions regarding the Las Lomas development. However, the city attorney opined on two occasions that Los Angeles is legally required to process the Las Lomas permits. To not process the application, as recommended by The Times, could put taxpayers on the hook if there were a lawsuit.

Currently before the City Council is not a question of approving the project but whether the developer should pay for the processing. My motion ensures that taxpayers are not saddled with this cost -- but does not force “the city to reopen proceedings to annex the land and to approve the development.”

Las Lomas is a long way from approval. Only after an environmental impact report and public vetting will a decision be made. But to stop processing the application now, after the city accepted the fees in 2002, could cost the taxpayers millions.

Richard Alarcon

Los Angeles City Council

District 7

As the developer of the Las Lomas community, I believe that The Times missed the boat with its editorial. The Times may dismiss the city’s legal obligation to process Las Lomas, but the city attorney’s office has not. Two opinions from the city attorney indicate that the city is obligated to process the project.

While the editorial mentions concerns such as traffic congestion and smart growth, it ignores other project benefits such as the creation of 9,000 permanent jobs and $22 million in annual tax revenues to the city, among many others. All of these concerns and benefits are what the city’s environmental review process is designed to comprehensively analyze. Only when this review is complete will decision-makers have the facts needed to evaluate Las Lomas.

Dan S. Palmer Jr.

Santa Monica