Health & Fitness
Blog: Tax Everyone $10 Instead of Building on Barlow Site?
Barlow's primary purpose in asking the City to re-zone its property is not to build a replacement hospital. Its primary purpose is to raise millions of dollars.
The California Environmental Quality Act ("CEQA") requires -- if the decision-making agency approves a project that will result in adverse environmental effects that are not avoided or substantially lessened -- that the agency state in writing the specific reasons to support its action based on the final Environmental Impact Report (“EIR”) and/or other information on record. The statement of overriding considerations is to be supported by substantial information on the record. (CEQA Guidelines §15093)
If the City approves the proposed Barlow land use changes, because of the significant adverse environmental impacts the project will have, it will need to make a statement of overriding considerations.
Barlow’s primary objective is to raise money for itself by making the land more valuable than it is now. It is not, as the DEIR states, primarily to rebuild the hospital. Most people probably have no problem with the City issuing a permit to Barlow to rebuild its hospital.
Find out what's happening in Echo Park-Silver Lakewith free, real-time updates from Patch.
The Barlow property is up for sale. The changes Barlow proposes will make its acreage more expensive. Once the property sells, the new owner would not have to build a hospital.
Barlow needs to raise about $100 million dollars to build its hospital. It wants permission to raise that money by affecting the local homes and businesses in Echo Park, Silver Lake, and China Town, as well as adversely impacting Elysian Park -- which serves those communities. With the money from the increased property values Barlow or the new owner gets at the expense of the hospital's neighbors, Barlow will be able to build a hospital, if its Board still wants to, perhaps not in our area, but somewhere.
Find out what's happening in Echo Park-Silver Lakewith free, real-time updates from Patch.
There are about 44,000 people living in Echo Park, among the highest density neighborhoods in the City. There are about 33,000 people living in Silver Lake, 7,800 in the Elysian Valley, and 30,000 in Chinatown. That adds up to about 115,000 people. If the City were to tax every person in these neighborhoods $10 more than whatever it is they’re currently paying, the Council could just give Barlow the money it needs for its new hospital.
