By LILA SEIDMAN | Reporter
The Los Angeles City Engineer gave a controversial pole-top distribution station (PTDS) located near Marquez Avenue and Sunset Boulevard the green light Dec. 5, approving the project’s Coastal Development Permit.
But an appeal has been filed by Alexandre Cornelius, attorney for Steven Somers, who co-purchased land near the project to develop, confirmed Los Angeles City Bureau of Engineering’s Catalina Hernandez.
A date for the appeal hearing before the Board of Public Works has not been set, but will likely happen early next year, Hernandez said. Until then, all construction on the PTDS has been halted.
The PTDS is being constructed to provide more power for residents in the area, according to LADWP Electrical Service Manager Bill Harriot. Several circuits in the area have been operating at 100-percent load or more for several years, causing periodic outages for residents, Harriot said.
This PTDS and another that is mid-construction on Temescal Canyon Boulevard, south of Sunset, would serve as “band-aids” until a permanent distribution station can be designed and installed. Harriot added that they might need to install more of the stations as the need arises.
Several residents expressed concerns about the structure at a public hearing held Nov. 9 by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, which is responsible for installing the 61-foot high structure.
Cornelius alleged that the LADWP did not adequately explore more aesthetically pleasing alternative options, including an underground or pad-mounted transformer.
Deputy City Attorney Tina Shim called the idea “technically infeasible” and would “increase delays as well as increase the costs of the project” in a letter dated Nov. 21 and addressed to Cornelius.
Sarah Conner, president of the Pacific Palisades Residents Association, remains unconvinced: “We are disappointed that the DWP is not following the legal requirements for the design of installations along a scenic highway—especially given the expert reports submitted that confirm pad mounting or undergrounding is feasible at the current location,” she said in response to the permit’s approval.
Shim also wrote, “the decision to locate the PTDS at Sunset and Marquez did not come quickly or hastily.” Public hearings have been held periodically since February.
Cornelius and others also alleged LADWP’s project is in violation of the Coastal Act, LA General Plan, the Brentwood-Palisades Community Plan and California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), which City Attorney Gary Lee Moore denied in the permit decision.
Construction of the PTDS had been halted in October because it lacked the appropriate Coastal Development Permit. Because LADWP said it was unaware it needed a Coastal Development Permit, it did not notify nearby residents of construction—a prerogative it typically exercises.
“We’re at a critical point now where we have to provide additional power distribution in the area,” Harriot said at the public hearing. “Although the footprint to some may seem large, it’s small in comparison to the power needs of the community.”
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