WLV Redevelopment

WLV redevelopment | Acorn Article 
Letter to the editor from WLV’s first Mayor, John McDonough

https://www.theacorn.com/articles/questions-wlv-redevelopment/

On the evening of Dec. 11, 1981, as the result of the overwhelming vote by the Westlake community, the City of Westlake Village became the 82nd city in the county of Los Angeles.

Partying lasted well into the night. I was selected as mayor of the new city, and my mandate: Westlake, our village, shall never become a San Fernando Valley.

And now in 2023, the city, my city, is proposing a study session to learn more about the approval of Lindero Terrace. Somehow this just doesn’t look right. I better look into this.

The more I look into this the more I find out of order:

It looks like the city is offering the developer, Lindero Terrace, the maximum number of housing units possible to meet state regulation. But what is the lowest number of units needed to build at this time to meet general plan requirements?

Taking industrial property and converting to high-density residential is a very profitable exchange of benefits. With this offer, almost every commercial property owner in Westlake would jump at the opportunity to solve your housing requirements. Have you canvassed any other properties? It could be that there are better locations for a zone conversion.

The City of Westlake Village Lindero Terrace study session is misstated and premature. Before we evaluate the Lindero Terrace buildings, before doing anything, we must first study the impact of Lindero Terrace on increasing our city’s population by over a 1,000 people. The big question, of course, is Lindero Terrace the best way to deal with meeting state housing goals?

The conclusion I have come to is we have weak planning procedures. The City of Westlake Village has good staff. They are being misused.

John McDonough
Westlake Village

McDonough was the first mayor of the City of Westlake Village. The study session regarding the North Business Park Specific Plan, to which McDonough refers, will be at 4 p.m. Wed., April 26. The property owner’s proposed residential project is at 5601, 5655 and 5701 Lindero Canyon Road across from Valley Oaks Memorial Park and Costco. For info, go to: http://wlv.org/616/Lindero-Residential-Project

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