City Notified of Planned Appeal of Court Ruling in City's Favor Over MOVE Culver City

"Friends and Families for MOVE Culver City" intends to appeal the Los Angeles Superior Court's recent ruling in favor of the City in a legal challenge to the City's modification of the MOVE Culver City Pilot Project. Legal counsel for the organization sent a letter to the City Council on August 26th, 2024, notifying the City Council that it "intends to appeal the Court's decision and judgement in Superior Court Case No. 23STCP03833, and Friends and Family for MOVE Culver City intends to take all necessary actions to preserve the status quo pending an opinion from the Court of Appeal."  The letter states that "Friends and Families for MOVE Culver City continues to object to the City's decisions to move forward with modifications to the MOVE Culver City Project."

Background

"Friends and Families for MOVE Culver City" filed a lawsuit in October 2023 challenging the legality of the City’s approved modifications to the MOVE Culver City Downtown Corridor pilot project. At the September 11th, 2023 meeting, the City Council voted 3-2 to ratify plans to modify the MOVE Culver City pilot project, and found the modified project exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to two CEQA exemptions. The lawsuit brought by Friends and Families for MOVE Culver City alleged the City of Culver City and City Council violated CEQA by finding the project exempt.

Court's Judgement 

On Tuesday, August 13th, 2024, the Court issued a Statement of Decision finding in favor of the City on all causes of action. The Court found that substantial evidence supports the City Council’s determination that the modified project was exempt from CEQA pursuant to the Class 1 categorical exemption and the statutory exemption in Public Resources Code Section 21080.25. The Court also found that substantial evidence supports the City Council’s findings that there are no unusual circumstances that lead to a potential for any significant environmental impacts and that the Project will not result in any significant impacts. The Court also rejected the argument that the modified project is inconsistent with the City’s General Plan. You can read the decision in full on the City's website.

The City was pleased with the Court’s decision that found the City has authority to modify the pilot project and is exempt from CEQA in this situation. 

Future of MOVE Culver City

During the lawsuit, the City delayed work on the Downtown Corridor with the goal of aligning the final decision of the trial court with the start of pre-construction activities for the MOVE Culver City Pilot Project. It has begun the next steps as approved by the City Council in September 2023.

More About MOVE Culver City

MOVE Culver City is a city-led initiative that reimagines and prioritizes moving people more efficiently and safely in the design of the street. The goal of this initiative is to improve the infrastructure and services for mobility alternatives and to offer the community equitable, convenient, and sustainable mobility options. This court decision enables the City to continue implementing and piloting strategies to achieve its mobility and sustainability goals in line with the 2045 General Plan. The City will continue to employ context-sensitive approaches to develop a balanced, multimodal transportation system through a comprehensive set of initiatives, including the forthcoming Comprehensive Mobility Services Plan, first-mile/last-mile improvements, and other integrated mobility strategies. 

After the implementation of the Downtown Corridor pilot in November 2021, the City conducted a year-long pilot evaluation period that involved extensive data analysis as well as collection of public feedback. Following this pilot evaluation, the City Council directed staff to modify the project’s design to incorporate a shared bus/bike lane in both directions and return a second lane of vehicle traffic where it is feasible and needed to improve the flow of traffic. The City’s modified design incorporates new features including bike boxes at seven locations along the corridor. A bike box is a designated area at the head of a traffic lane at a signalized intersection that provides bicyclists with a safe and visible way to get ahead of stopped traffic. Another addition is human-scale traffic lights, named “bike buddy” signals, for enhanced visibility, as well as high-visibility crosswalks in strategic locations. The pilot project will also be extended 0.6 miles east on Washington Boulevard between La Cienega Avenue and the city limit at Fairfax Avenue and on Adams Boulevard between Washington Boulevard and Fairfax Avenue, to connect to existing bicycle facilities in the City of Los Angeles. 

In order to allow for coordination with the City’s annual street resurfacing program, the project was split into two segments. The western segment is located on Culver Boulevard between Duquesne Avenue and Canfield Avenue and on Washington Boulevard between Canfield Avenue and La Cienega Boulevard. Pre-construction work for the western segment will begin immediately. A construction timeline will be released as soon as it is available. The eastern segment, located on Washington Boulevard from La Cienega Boulevard to Fairfax Avenue and on Adams Boulevard from Washington Boulevard to Fairfax Avenue, is scheduled to start in early 2025.