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The corridor

The impact does not stop at the property line.

Riverwalk is part of a broader pattern of development along Ventura Boulevard.

Projects are reviewed individually, but residents experience their effects together.

During a major emergency, traffic from homes, businesses and multiple developments may need to use the same roads.

That combined demand matters.

We believe the City should consider how the corridor functions as a whole, particularly where hillside neighborhoods depend on the same access routes.

Explore the Evacuation Question Read the Council Decision
What makes this corridor different

The City reviews individual projects. Emergencies affect entire neighborhoods.

A single project can be made to look manageable on paper. The real question is what happens when several projects add density, traffic, construction, commercial activity, and emergency-access demand to the same short corridor at the same time.

  • One real east-west spine

    Ventura Boulevard is the only meaningful east-west route for ingress, egress, and emergency evacuation here, and it also serves as the evacuation route for residents, businesses, and through-traffic across Studio City on both sides of the boulevard, including the hillside neighborhoods to the south, which are themselves in a Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone.

  • The Los Angeles River as a wall

    The river runs along the north edge, with adjacent parcels zoned OS-1XL-RIO. It restricts north-south movement and squeezes local and emergency traffic into a small number of crossings.

  • Whitsett and Coldwater as pressure points

    Whitsett Avenue and Coldwater Canyon Avenue are the main alternatives, and both are constrained, congested two-lane corridors that climb quickly into steep, fire-prone hillside terrain.

Cumulative corridor context

Three major projects, one constrained corridor.

The half mile of Ventura Boulevard from Whitsett Avenue to Coldwater Canyon Avenue is facing development pressure from three major projects. The cards below describe each project separately. Riverwalk's figures are from the public case record. The other two reflect each developer's proposed scope.

Riverwalk at Studio City

Verified, public record

814 residential units

75,968 square feet of commercial or restaurant use · 1,806 parking spaces · Up to 84 ft and seven stories · 46 very low-income units · ~521,000 cubic yards of dirt export

See the Riverwalk details

Residences at Sportsmen's Lodge

Developer’s proposed scope

520 residential units

~46,000 square feet of new ground-floor commercial

Based on developer's current proposed project description. Not independently verified against the master fact file.

Sunswept Place

Developer’s proposed scope

27 condominiums

17,400 square feet of ground-floor commercial · 154 parking spaces · 50,500 cubic yards of earth removal

Based on developer's current proposed project description. Not independently verified against the master fact file, and separate from the verified 2021 Spectrum News tree-canopy and stop-work record.

See the Sunswept record

Reviewing each project on its own can miss the combined effect on the same streets.

The shared system

Development is reviewed by project. Infrastructure fails as a network.

Water mains, power lines, sewers, intersections, and evacuation routes do not recognize project boundaries. Each new development is reviewed through its own case, but the real-world load accumulates on the same local systems.

  • What the record establishes

    • The site is in a Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone and a liquefaction zone.
    • The City's conditions require future arrangements with LADWP for water mains, fire hydrants, service connections, and public utility easements.
    • The conditions require a sewer capacity determination request and later drainage clearances.
    • Fire access, hydrant, and plot plan review are deferred to later clearance stages.

  • What has not been publicly demonstrated

    • The age, material, and condition of the specific mains serving each site.
    • Break and leak history along the corridor.
    • Cumulative hydraulic capacity for the combined development.
    • Required fire flow under peak and emergency conditions.
    • The timing and funding of any upgrades those systems require.

  • What the campaign is requesting

    • LADWP service condition letters for each project.
    • Pipe age and material records for the corridor.
    • Hydrant flow test results.
    • Hydraulic modeling for the combined development.
    • Upgrade requirements identified before occupancy.

The same question applies to every shared system.

The City record requires later arrangements and clearances for water, power, sewer, drainage, transportation, hydrants, and fire access. Those later checks matter, but the public still needs a clear cumulative answer: what upgrades are required for the corridor, when will they be completed, and what protections ensure existing residents are not left with degraded service or undisclosed costs?

What the City should disclose

Prove the corridor can handle it, on the record.

  • A corridor-level evacuation capacity analysis for the combined load, not project-by-project assumptions.
  • Reconciled cumulative impacts and emergency response times, measured against readiness, not just Vehicle Miles Traveled.
  • Verified CEQA exemption thresholds, including fire mitigations, historic eligibility, tribal consultation, and a Phase I assessment.
  • Explicit, record-backed findings on public health and safety.
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