Having read in your news that councilwoman Salhi-Wells is sponsoring fund raisers for Habitat for Humanity to build 10 affordable units on Globe, adjacent to the 405 freeway, I am compelled to object. As a Realtor, I have sold many homes with various statutory admonitions for the buyers to take note so that they will make an informed decision. Buying a home within 1000 feet of a freeway is a mandatory disclosure in California, set in place to educate buyers in that zone of potential danger. The danger is obvious: respiratory disease and malfunctions related to it, such as emphysema, pulmonary disease and so on. Grime and oil also are present in massive quantities as attested to by my home, which is covered with soot from the freeway, over 4500 feet away. Now the City wants to build 10 new homes in a spot right under the freeway. So for these that can make the list and pay for this "affordable housing", they may pay less to live but also pay to die. That a city would place the least able to help themselves, the least able to afford decent housing in a potentially if not literally poisonous location is a crying shame. Who would want that? Unlike existing housing next to the freeway, these new units carry certain statutory guarantees. In addition the possibility of a lawsuit from a sick resident is manifest - no amount of warning or exculpatory conduct can advise and/or warn those least able to protect themselves from the intrusion of traffic effluent. And since these are well known facts, I'm suggesting the City may be the ones liable, when and if, anyone does get respiratory illness from these locations. Don't be fooled. The city and Ms. Salhi-Wells know this is dangerous and expensive if they get sued. Salhi-Wells summed it up perfectly: "I'm really happy to be doing this . . . [though] it’s not an ideal location". It is a crappy location for housing and the potential damage to good people can be avoided by building elsewhere. This is a poor idea, ill conceived and not one that looks to the future. Find another location, council people, and build a green space on Globe instead.
Mark Salkin
Culver City
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