See it for yourself
Media and testimony.
Local coverage, fire footage, and a documentary trailer connected to the Studio City corridor, fire risk, tree canopy, and unsafe development concerns.
A land use attorney on fire risk and density.
In March 2026, land use attorney Jamie Hall spoke at a Sherman Oaks Homeowners Association meeting about the risk of densifying neighborhoods in very high fire hazard severity zones. Hall is the managing partner at Channel Law Group and represents the plaintiffs in a lawsuit filed in December 2025 against the City of Los Angeles, which alleges the City approved development in severe fire hazard areas without reviewing those projects against the state's minimum fire safe regulations. His remarks below speak directly to the evacuation capacity and emergency access concerns at the center of the Riverwalk fight.
Footage courtesy of the Sherman Oaks Homeowners Association.
LAFD and the development review process
What I will comment on is something a little bit more broad but relevant, which is that LAFD has been anxious and resistant to commenting during the development process. So when there's projects located in a very high fire hazard severity zone, they should be part of the plan check review process, and they should feel emboldened to talk about the risk of densification in this area and the lack of resources and the lack of infrastructure. But we live in a society where even uttering those words is vilified.
One way in, one way out
The law does have some exceptions, and the exceptions are important because, like in the neighborhood that I live in, it was built in the 1920s. I live in Laurel Canyon, and the Kirkwood Bowl has one way in and one way out. There was a huge fire there in 1979. It's not going to be feasible to change the grade of some of those roads. And it may not be feasible for the city to widen all of its narrow roads.
The fire hazard maps reach the flats
That brings up a whole different topic, which is the very high fire hazard severity zone maps were revised, and they're being pushed out into the flatlands. Like in my neighborhood, the very high fire hazard severity zones go all the way to Fountain. So these are not areas where we were thinking we were going to have that type of fire risk. So of course we have a similar interest, because fire sweeps down from the hillsides down to the flats, and once it gets to the flats it becomes more of a structure to structure fire. It's going from structure to structure. And so we have to have a holistic plan for dealing with this.
Watch the record.
Spectrum News 1: the Sunswept Place tree fight
Spectrum News 1, November 17, 2021. Adele Slaughter details the missing tree report, the EIR discrepancies, and the resulting stop-work order at Sunswept Place.
Pacific Palisades fire, January 2025
Heavy smoke from the January 2025 Pacific Palisades fire, seen from the 101 Freeway in the Studio City corridor, from Laurel Canyon to Sepulveda Boulevard. Regional context for the street and emergency-access strain that canyon and corridor fire events create.
Small is Beautiful.
The Small is Beautiful documentary shows how communities across California are confronting the same pattern: oversized development placed into fire-prone, ecologically sensitive, or infrastructure-limited places while residents are told the risks will somehow work themselves out later. Studio City deserves better than that.
Verified history and current scope, kept separate.
The Sunswept record includes a historical account reported by Spectrum News and a separate, currently proposed scope from the developer. The site keeps these two categories apart and never blends them.
Spectrum News historical record
Spectrum News 1, November 17, 2021
- Protected tree species along Ventura Boulevard, including coast live oak, black walnut, and toyon, were identified as threatened by the Sunswept Place project.
- Residents reported that work began without a completed tree report or environmental impact report, and without proper permitting in place.
- Concerns raised with the City led to a stop-work order that halted construction at the site.
- The community called for a full environmental impact report with a complete tree assessment before any further work.
Developer's currently 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.
These two categories must not be blurred. The currently proposed scope figures are the developer's current description, not part of the Spectrum News historical record.
From the corridor and the sites.
Two sets of images. Aftermath of the January 2025 Sunswept Fire, a Studio City hillside fire that broke out during the same January 2025 fire siege as the Palisades and Altadena fires, and early site activity at Sunswept Place on Ventura Boulevard.
Sunswept Fire, Studio City, January 2025
These images document the destructive aftermath in Studio City following the January 2025 Sunswept Fire. This incident occurred simultaneously with the massive regional Palisades and Eaton fires, which heavily strained city-wide emergency resources. Despite those conditions, firefighters from Station 78, located just down the street, successfully contained the blaze before it could spread to the surrounding hillside vegetation. We include these photographs as regional fire-safety context to show why evacuation capacity, emergency access, and fire-risk planning cannot be treated as abstract issues in Studio City.
ABC7: Studio City couple recounts escaping the fire that destroyed homes
Sunswept Fire aftermath in Studio City, showing hillside homes and vegetation burned in the January 2025 fire.
Sunswept Fire aftermath, with damaged hillside structures visible among burned trees and debris.
Sunswept Fire aftermath, showing the scale of structural loss in a Studio City hillside residential area.
Smoke plume from the January 2025 Pacific Palisades fire, viewed from a Studio City hillside area.
Sunswept Place early construction activity
These images document early construction and site activity at Sunswept Place, the Ventura Boulevard site discussed in the Spectrum News segment featuring Adele Slaughter. They support the verified history section below, while keeping the 2021 Spectrum record separate from the developer's current proposed project description.
Sunswept Place site area viewed from above, showing the hillside lot and surrounding Ventura Boulevard corridor before major buildout.
Sunswept Place site activity viewed from above, showing exposed ground and work activity near the Ventura Boulevard edge.
Sunswept Place site conditions near Ventura Boulevard, showing cleared or disturbed areas visible from above.
Sunswept Place early site work near the Ventura Boulevard frontage, with equipment and disturbed ground visible.
Help build the public record.
Have photos, videos, or documents related to Riverwalk, Sunswept Place, Sportsmen's Lodge, evacuation, traffic, or construction activity in the corridor? Send them to the campaign team.
