The City Council Wednesday approved a settlement to modify an expansion plan for the LA Zoo after environmental advocates sued the city.
In a 14-0 vote, council members authorized Zoo Director Denise Verret to execute the settlement agreement with Griffith J. Griffith Charitable Trust and the Friends of Griffith Park, among others. The agreement is expected to end a two-year court battle with the city.
The issue stems from the 2023 LA Zoo Vision Plan, which laid out several improvements to zoo facilities and operations. Zoo and city officials have said the plan will increase space for animals by 162%, ensure 95% of trees remained protected, and save habitat with zero expansion into Griffith Park.
But plaintiffs sued the city soon after elected officials advanced the plan, challenging two key components that called for creation of a so-called “Condor Canyon” exhibit and a visitor center.
At the time, city officials said the plan would eliminate a large multi-story parking garage and restore and protect vulnerable Coast Live oak trees by leaving an undeveloped hillside in a proposed Africa exhibit area.
In a telephone interview Tuesday, Friends of Griffith Park President Gerry Hans told City News Service that the group was successful in settling with the city. He said the Condor Canyon was a “massive excavation through a ridge line” to create an artificial canyon, a venture Hans described as “excessive.” The city had proposed tunneling, but that was also deemed unfeasible.
As part of the settlement, the city agreed not to develop an 18,000-square-foot visitor center and restaurant, and instead create three outdoor shade structures, each no more than 1,500 square feet. The sites would include signage, seating and restrooms.
The zoo also agreed to preserve five acres out of 16 that are intended for development.
“We won this a long time ago in the court of public opinion because people thought that it was just excessive, and it wasn’t focused on animal care,” Hans told CNS. “A visitor center and a showy Condor Canyon where people can do rock climbing doesn’t have a lot to do with operating a zoo.
“We had a lot of confidence on the merits of the lawsuit based on the environmental CEQA Act, in terms of adverse impacts to special species and the fact that it would really be hard to mitigate some of the adverse impacts,” Hans added.
Representatives for the City Attorney’s Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
“The Zoo is confident that these changes will not impact the purpose of the Vision Plan, which guides the long-term transformation of the entire Zoo campus, including improvements to animal care and wellbeing and the overall guest experience. By working collaboratively with partners, such as the Friends of Griffith Park, we are ensuring that the L.A. Zoo remains a treasured community resource for generations to come,” according to a statement from The Los Angeles Zoo.
With the council’s approval, the settlement heads to Mayor Karen Bass for consideration.
Hans said Friends of Griffith Park expects to be back in court in the coming weeks to finalize the settlement now that it has been approved.
“It all worked out,” Hans told CNS. “I think the zoo is going to be a better zoo because of it.”
There is no such thing as a better zoo. They are all prisons for animals. The money would be better spent on sanctuaries and protecting animals in the wild where they can live free like normal animals instead of being incarcerated to make money for zoos. Now the city council is giving more money to Denise Verret who has, according to court documents, treated the zoo like her personal piggy bank. She and Bass also orchestrated the stealing of our elephants Billy and Tina and sending them to another zoo hellhole in Tulsa. The city council listen to our pleas to send Billy and Tina to a sanctuary with deaf ears but have voted to throw good money after bad on imprisoning more animals in the zoo.