11472 Laurelcrest Drive​

The Laurelcrest Woodland lies in the Santa Monica Mountains Zone in the hillside community of Studio City.

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STATUS

• Sidelined Threat

• On February 7, 2022, Los Angeles County Superior Court concluded that Sunshine Hill Residents Association showed by substantial evidence that the project will have a significant effect on the environment due to the removal of oak trees and invalidated the City of Los Angeles’s unlawful tree removal permit to facilitate a luxury development project in this valuable urban woodland in the Santa Monica Mountains, and commanded the City to conduct the required environmental review. The judges ruling validates our argument that replacement trees alone do not mitigate the loss of an oak woodland. 
   

5 REASONS WHY WE FILED THE LAWSUIT

1. 11472 West Laurelcrest Drive is a never-before developed steep hillside wildlife habitat on an ancient landslide in our Santa Monica Mountain community. The City failed to require mitigation for the loss of this beautiful, untouched woodland that is home to old oak trees, rare California black walnut trees, and is serving as a refuge for our native birds, bob cat, mule deer, and coyotes. 

2. The City of Los Angeles permitted, without environmental review, an unlawful development project that will destroy one of the last Oak Woodlands in our neighborhood for a McMansion, while failing to disclose the true health and ecological impacts of the project.   

3. The City of Los Angeles dismissed expert biologist opinions and ignored letters from the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, The Hillside Federation, Sierra Club, California Native Plant Society, Save Coldwater Canyon, Expert Environmental Scientists, and its own Community Forest Advisory Committee calling for the required environmental review under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).

4. The City failed to disclose the adverse impacts of large construction equipment and trucks in the neighborhood to level the hill and haul 1,000 cubic yards of earth causing serious dust, noise, ground vibration, traffic, and potential for inadequate emergency access.   

5. The City failed to mitigate the loss of this wildlife habitat and review the increased risk of fire and landslide that comes with adding an over-sized structure to our already dense high fire risk neighborhood with narrow hillside streets and building on an ancient landslide.