Much needed open space & recreation facilities or placeholder for future expansion?
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, City Councilmember Mike Bonin, airport officials, and community representatives on June 14, celebrated City Council approval of the LAX Northside Plan Update, a comprehensive planning blueprint for 340 acres of vacant property located between Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) and the Los Angeles communities of Westchester and Playa del Rey.
Big news yesterday for #Westchester CA‘s neighbor to the South. LA Mayor Eric Garcetti, Councilman Mike Bonin, LAX officials and community representatives celebrated City Council approval of the LAX Northside Plan Update, a comprehensive planning blueprint for 340 acres of vacant property located between LAX and Westchester/Playa del Rey.
But is passage of the plan really cause for celebration?
Bonin was quoted as saying, “Westchester and Playa del Rey deserve a vibrant, thriving community and the Northside Plan will offer neighbors open space and recreation facilities to play in, #restaurants and retail space to dine and shop in, and a campus-like office space to work in.”
Sounds good to me.
Critics on the other hand, are quick to point out that open spaces and recreation facilities are easy to pave over, if LAX starts thinking again about expanding to the north into our community. They point out that the original plan called for high rise office buildings, which might present more of an obstacle to expansion.
Cue the music screeching to a halt.
Will we be so busy in Westchester CA enjoying our “gift” that we don’t even notice when the City starts talking again about northward expansion? Hard to tell. With luck, we’ll end up with the real “Runway” rather than Playa Vista. For that, we can only stay tuned.
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