City Commission to Take Up Trailer Park Agreement

The Planning Commission will make a recommendation to the City Council Wednesday concerning the future of one of the city's last remaining trailer parks.

It will consider a development agreement with Village Trailer Park LLC that, if ultimately approved by the council, would OK closure of the park and the relocation of 48 mobile homes, along with the construction of more than 480 apartments and condos and nearly 30,000 square feet of offices and retail outlets.

A public hearing on the agreement got started Wednesday, but was continued at about midnight to May 30.

At 2930 Colorado Avenue, just east of 26th Street, the park was built in 1951, and  It is now just one of two.

Six years ago, the park owners issued notices to mobilehome owners that they intended to close the park, a community described by its residents—many of whom are elderly—as tight-knit, void of crime and altogether irreplaceable. , the have have fought the plans for development.

The "little park is gorgeous… with almost a little Norman Rockwell feeling to it,"  Pacific Palisades historian Randy Young told the Planning Commission last week.

The plans for the project have changed in the past few months, with the developer scaling back the amount of retail and office floor space, while increasing the housing and amount of walkways and gathering spaces for outdoor dining and parks.

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The development agreement will set timelines for construction and guidelines for the size of the project, providing landowners with the guaranteed to develop their property in exchange for so-called community benefits.

Under the draft agreement that's up for consideration, the developer has agreed to designate 147 units as rent-controlled, cut a $2 million check to the city for nearby transportation infrastructure improvements, contribute $386,063 to a trust fund for childcare subsidies for low-income families and to local construction workers, among other consessions.

"These trailers are not up to modern codes... the infrastructure of the park is stressed to say the least, said landowner Marc Luzzato of Village Trailer Park LLC. "For these and other reasons, the park is no longer viable and will have to close regardless of the disposition of the proposed project."

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The meeting is at 7 p.m. at City Hall. For a city staff report on the proposed development agreement, click here.