Los Angeles council accepts mitigation deal with West Hollywood, preserves enforcement guarantees but rejects filing-only lawsuit

The Los Angeles City Council voted to accept a stipulated mitigation agreement with West Hollywood and the Sunset Millennium developer on a package of traffic and public-safety improvements, rejecting a motion to file but not serve a lawsuit aimed at preserving the city's legal rights while staff studied the proposed mitigations.

Councilmember Feuer proposed filing a lawsuit but withholding service so the city's Department of Transportation (DOT), Fire and Police departments could fully evaluate the new mitigation proposals. "File the suit today, but don't serve it," Feuer said, describing the move as a way to "preserve our rights while at the same time allowing the analysis that DOT, police, and fire have said repeatedly yesterday they have not had the chance to do." Feuer said that if the city's experts later determined the mitigations were adequate, the city could dismiss the action.

The substitute motion to file without serving failed on a 4–10 vote. Council then approved an amended committee report that included a developer guarantee to cover overruns on a specified Automated Traffic Control System (ATCS) contribution and other agreed mitigations. The council vote on the committee report as amended was 12…