Beverly Hills School District Sues in Attempt to Stop Subway Route Under 90210 School

By Dennis Romero Thu., May 31 2012 at 8:08 AM

The B.H.

The people who run Beverly Hills High School really, really, really don't want a subway rumbling underneath their fine, telegenic campus.

And so, less than a week after the Metro board approved a leg that would run under the iconic 90210 institution, the Beverly Hills School District has filed suit in an attempt to make it stop.

They will lose, but ...

... the suit could prolong the time it takes to build this much-awaited line that can take you from downtown to Koreatown and, someday, Westwood.

The suit, filed yesterday, claims that Metro ignored potentially dangerous issues and allegedly dire environmental consequences in order to run the thing under BHHS and toward a stop in the center of Century City.

The backstory, as we've reported previously, is that Metro originally drew up a northern route that would run along Santa Monica Boulevard and stop on the north side of Century City.

But the southern stop on Constellation Boulevard would bring a station right underneath a high rise planned by non other than a friend of and contributor to L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraiogsa, who happens to hold much sway on the Metro board.

You're catching our drift.

But ... the school district's claims that methane gas in the area around the school and other dangers are just too risky for subway construction have been largely debunked by well-respected scientists such as Lucy Jones of the U.S. Geological Survey.

Metro had nothing to say late yesterday. But the schools' lawyer, Kevin Brogan, put this out there:

The BHUSD supports the Westside Subway Extension and did not want to file this lawsuit. But Metro's purported consideration of the Santa Monica Boulevard station location was nothing more than lip service, and its headlong rush to approve the alignment before all studies were finalized left BHUSD no choice.

[With reporting from City News Service / @dennisjromero / djromero@laweekly.com / @LAWeeklyNews]

Tags:

Beverly Hills, Beverly Hills High School, lawsuit, Metro, subway, subway extension

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Concerned Citizen

Were you even at the meeting? The meeting during which real scientific evidence was presented but completely ignored by the council members, including the mayor (who left early), because they had already committed to Metro and didn't want to hear the evidence? Do you know what it's like to be on top of a construction site for 8 hours a day?? Do you think you could study and focus? Have you been on top of a subway? Are you aware of the noise and constant vibration? Sorry, I wouldn't want my kids going to school there, and I am appalled that children are being used as bargaining chits in a high stakes real estate coup.

Cabin

Subways run under many buildings and streets in this city without "noise and constant vibration". It will be 60 feet underground. Meanwhile, this school also has plans to build a parking garage directly underneath the campus - how much "noise and constant vibration" will that cause? But I guess that is ok because those white BMWs have to go somewhere.

DAinLA

Then build it over. Make that part an L-Train.

Yuval Kremer

"They will lose"...please enlighten us on your legal analysis...did you graduate from Law School?

"But ... the school district's claims that methane gas in the area around the school and other dangers are just too risky for subway construction have been largely debunked by well-respected scientists such as Lucy Jones of the U.S. Geological Survey."...please link to some sources!...so if Lucy works for the US Geological Survey, does that mean that she is a federal employee and Obama, who is backing this project and is the Mayor's Buddy, can have her fired (or alternatively have her salary raised)?

Does the MTA book a lot of advertising in The Weekly?...if it doesn't, I'm sure it will now, with this kind of spin piece...you can't buy this kind of "news" coverage!

Dennis Romero

Yuval:

Read the in-depth piece by my colleague Patrick McDonald linked in the first paragraph. It's very critical of the route, if you ask me.

However, if I was a betting man, I'd say this lawsuit is a loser. Sorry to break the news, but that's what I do.

-Dennis

SuperNinjaDad

I'm sorry but this proposed route makes no sense. And Metro assumes everybody in the universe supports the concept to begin with. Not true. I support mass transit but choose not to use it myself. There needs to be balance here. My son will be high school age when this is scheduled to be complete. This issue affects people a decade out. Consider alternate routes.

DAinLA

Send him to a school for people who don't understand basic science.