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UPDATE: BUDGET BILL PRESERVES WEST L.A. VA CAMPUS --
"Today's action caps a years-long struggle to
protect the VA
site of West L.A. from the kind of development
schemes
that would have transformed these hallowed
grounds
into a real estate speculator's dream."
West L.A. VA
For more about the fight to save (we won!) the
West L.A. VA campus, use the VA Watchdog search engine...click here...
http://www.yourvabenefits.org/sessearch.php?q=west+l.a.&op=ph
Story here...
http://www.labusinessjournal.com/article.as
p?aID=44532783.9323825.1569594.86904702.3764048.890&aID2=120729
Story below:
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Budget Bill Preserves L.A. VA Site
By HOWARD FINE
Los Angeles Business Journal Staff
The formal end of a controversial plan to develop the federal Veterans
Administration property in West L.A. came on Wednesday as President George
Bush signed into law a budget bill containing a ban on commercial
development of the site.
The ban, inserted into the $550 billion budget bill as part of a
legislative agreement reached this past fall, prohibits the sale,
exchange, long-term lease or development of the 388-acre site on both
sides of Wilshire Boulevard just west of the San Diego (405) Freeway.
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The VA has repeatedly proposed development
schemes for the site to generate up to $4 billion in revenues for the
agency, including most recently a land swap.
These moves prompted a united front of opposition, from U.S. Sens. Dianne
Feinstein and Barbara Boxer to Reps. Howard Berman and Henry Waxman and
every local elected official representing L.A.’s Westside. The lawmakers
argued that the land should be permanently set aside to meet the needs of
more than 1 million veterans in the L.A. area; they had also cited
concerns over additional traffic that commercial development would bring.
The Bush administration had been pondering a veto of the budget bill in
large part because of the VA site development ban. A White House
spokeswoman had been quoted as saying the ban represented a significant
loss of revenue. Ultimately, however, Bush decided to sign the bill, which
pleased Westside officials.
“Today’s action caps a years-long struggle to protect the VA site of West
LA from the kind of development schemes that would have transformed these
hallowed grounds into a real estate speculator’s dream,” L.A. County
Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky said in response to the bill signing.
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Larry Scott --
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