Central Los Angeles : Group Backs Mayor’s Veto of Development

About 60 members of the Vermont Knolls, Vermont-Manchester and Vicinity Assn. in South-Central Los Angeles on Tuesday supported Mayor Richard Riordan’s veto of a controversial commercial/residential development.

The last thing the area needs is another housing project, association members said at a meeting. What it really needs is economic development.

Riordan last week vetoed City Council approval of a development project along the Vermont Corridor.

With Riordan in attendance, association members called for a totally commercial district to be set up at Vermont Avenue and 81st Street, the former site of Pepperdine University.

“You live here, you know what you want,” said Riordan, urging the association to come up with its own comprehensive plan for revitalizing the corridor.

The area’s City Council representative, Mark Ridley-Thomas, had helped pushed First Interstate Bank’s multibillion-dollar development through the council. But Riordan vetoed it, causing a sharp rift between the councilman and the mayor.

Homeowners on Tuesday said the veto was more than just a political squabble. It was a key moment in the future of their neighborhood, they said.

“We are the ones who are saying we want economic development,” said Gloria Gary, 60, who lives in Vermont Knolls.

“We ask for economic development, and we get housing projects,” said Rod Wright, 43. “Economic development is something that generates money. You don’t want to confuse the two.”

Members of the homeowners group said they will lobby all council members to sustain Riordan’s veto.