/Please pass on to your lists and those who you know sent in
petitions...we will keep you updated on how the Planning Department
responds to our Public Comments.
/
/Thank you to everyone who has supported this work.
/
/For Immediate Release/
Leslie Radford
South Central Farmers
310-869-6397
Fax: 302-370-0612
tezo@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:tezo@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
www.southcentralfarmers.com <http://www.southcentralfarmers.com/>
*South Central Farmers, community members, and progressive organizations
call for shutting down the "h" Horowitz Warehouse in South Central Los
Angeles*
South Central Los Angeles, CA - July, 24 2008 - This spring, in a highly
unusual move, the Los Angeles City Planning Dept. waived an
Environmental Impact Report (EIR) on Ralph Horowitz' behalf. However,
members of the South Central Farmers and the community were able to
force the Deputy Advisory Board of the City Planning Dept. to back away
from rubber-stamping the waiver. The Board announced on July 2nd, at the
opening of the sole public hearing on the matter, that it had received
so many letters that it planned to review and reconsider the matter, and
to extend the time-line for public comments by 21 days, till July 23^rd
, 2008.
*Within a few short weeks the South Central Farmers have been able to
generate stiff and significant opposition to the plan *by developer
Ralph Horowitz and his City Council sponsor, Councilwoman Jan Perry, to
replace the Farm with a major, highly polluting, warehouse distribution
center on the Farm land. On July 2, 2008, *the South Coast Air Quality
Management District,* where Jan Perry is also a board member, weighed in
with City Planning, *strongly recommending that the City "specifically
prohibit" land uses at the site that would, in an area already full of
warehouses, "further expose" nearby schools, health facilities, the aged
and the ill to "additional cancer risks from diesel particulate matter"
emitted by large trucks or other vehicles*. In other words, the District
is telling the City "Shut this project down." "Prohibit its construction
and operation." The struggle for environmental justice is full of
situations like this one, and lawsuits are a constant and predictable
part of the terrain. The air quality regulators cannot be unaware that
any effort on the part of the City to ignore or bypass these
recommendations opens the door to a strongly based lawsuit to force the
City to comply.
While Ralph Horowitz, Jan Perry, and the Los Angeles City Planning
department were planning an end-run on the CEQA process, *the local
community, the South Central Farmers, and supporters delivered and
submitted by the July 23rd deadline over 1700 signatures demanding an
Environmental Impact Report be required from the Developer and be
submitted to the City Planning Department,* including: 130 letters
opposing the warehouse from families within the 500 ft radius of the
site. 1,100 signatures on our petition opposing the warehouse And over
500 letters from the general public demanding an Environmental Impact
Report, including letters from all 50 states of the US, Canada, and
Australia.
Tezozomoc, one of the organizers for the South Central Farmers stated,
"As we have unraveled the Trojan Horse of 'jobs' it has become clear
that we must be demanding more than just the EIR. We need to demand that
the warehouse be Shutdown! Under no certain terms will the community
accept 2700 trucks daily spewing diesel particulate matter that can kill
us! Under no certain terms will we accept our children, our schools;
Nevin, Carver, Jefferson, our parks; Ross Snyder Recreation, our
pedestrian areas; Vernon Metro Station, Alameda Swap meet to be
'exhausted by diesel' particulate matter."
The Farmers have also rallied support from the Center for Biological
Diversity, the Natural Resources Defense Council, The Green Party, USA,
the Bus Riders Union, The Progressive Democrats of Los Angeles,
Communities for a Better Environment, and other local and national
organizations.
The South Central Farmers is a grassroots community organization
dedicated to urban farming, health, education, and policy.
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