A settlement may be near in the decades-long disagreement between City Hall and West Los Angeles College, sources said this afternoon, this time over how the school should proceed, regarding environmental impacts, with its aggressive construction plans.
The city of Culver City sued the college last Friday, hinging its contentions on alleged violations of the California Environmental Quality Act. Papers have not yet been served on college officials. “Procedurally, the complaint may need to be served,” an insider said, “which would give the school a certain amount of time to respond.”
Even though there have been no meetings since a marathon one last Wednesday, one closely placed source said: “We believe we are very close to a settlement that will satisfy all of the players. Only one issue seems to be left. An agreement well may come together before the 10-business days’ deadline for serving West the papers.”
Another person told the newspaper, “I am fairly optimistic this can be resolved without a lot of additional legal wrangling. The neighborhood associations and the city had specific requirements they wanted to be included in (last month’s) supplemental environmental impact report and ultimately in a settlement agreement. We cannot disclose any details. The present situation represents movement by both sides, but I would say the college probably has had to move further in the direction of satisfaction.”
