Proposed Hotel Would Be Built In Benedict Canyon, CD5 Yaroslavky Authored Motion
By Dolores Quintana
The Los Angeles City Council has made a pivotal decision by voting 8 to 6 in favor of a motion that calls for the city’s planning director to halt the ongoing approval process for developer Gary Safady’s Bulgari Hotel project. This vote is a substantial setback for one of the city’s most controversial development projects.
The vote took place during Wednesday’s City Council meeting. It was the second time this year that the council has considered the motion from Councilmember Katy Yaroslavsky, a vocal opponent of the project. The council was deadlocked at 7-7 in the first vote that was held in May of this year.
Councilwoman Katy Yaroslavsky had this to say after the vote in the council chambers on Wednesday, “Today, the Los Angeles City Council stood with hundreds of community members and environmental leaders who have been fighting for years to protect the Santa Monica Mountains from this hotel. I am deeply grateful to my colleagues for their support.”
Among the problems that residents of the canyon and Yaroslavky see with the project are potential environmental damage, opening up the Santa Monica Mountains to commercial development, and questions of propriety regarding a lobbyist for the project who was married to Shawn Bayliss, who was the Planning and Land Use Deputy for CD 5 under Paul Koretz.
Councilmembers who voted for the motion are Eunisses Hernandez from CD1, Bob Blumenfeld from CD3, Nithya Raman from CD4, Marqueece Harris-Dawson from CD5, Hugo Soto-Martinez from CD13, CD5 Katy Yaroslavky, and Tim McCosker from CD15. Council member Imelda Padilla, from CD 6, who was newly elected to the council, abstained from the vote. The one council member who voted differently this time was CD11’s council member, Traci Park.
As we previously reported, the motion states that Yaroslavky is “requesting the Director, Department of City Planning (DCP), to consider rescinding the initiation of a General Plan Amendment (GPA) for the Retreat at Benedict Canyon Project.” The motion’s passage does not stop the project but has put the brakes on it.
Bulgari Hotels has not responded to requests for comment.
