We're starting to believe that Jimmy Hoffa, the Holy Grail, or whatever was in Marsellus Wallace's briefcase is buried under Beverly Hills High School. The school district is buttressing their previous lawsuit against the Purple Line subway extension, which will tunnel underneath their high school to build a station in the heart of Century City, with a federal one, the Beverly Hills Courier reports (the city of BH is also suing). While the previous suit was brought against Metro, this one is against the federal government, which gave the green light for the project to proceed (early work on the Koreatown-to-Westwood extension has begun). BHUSD charges that the Federal Transportation Administration didn't do an independent analysis of the project's final environmental impact statement. The district also says the FTA was wrong in assuming the subway tunnel will not damage the campus.
Metro argues that, because of earthquake faults, the only safe option for a Century City station requires tunneling under BHHS. They also counter that their stop, at Constellation and Avenue of the Stars, will serve thousands more riders daily compared to BHUSD's requested station at Santa Monica Boulevard and Avenue of the Stars (across from a golf course). The timing of the federal suit isn't ideal for BHUSD, which has spent hundreds of thousands on publicists and lobbyists battling the subway: the district reported a $3.5 million shortfall for 2013-14.
To raise money, BHUSD is placing a new parcel tax on the March ballot. The school board is also about to embark on an "effort to get community approval to raise the Measure E bond tax rate," the Beverly Hills Patch reports.
· BHUSD Files Federal Suit Against Westside Subway [BH Courier]
Loading comments...