Stars Aligned Against City in Beverly Hills Water War

Like most fights involving City Hall, the battle over the Beverly Hills reservoir is David versus Goliath.

Except this time City Hall is David.

A group backed by an array of celebrities who live north of Sunset Boulevard has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in a four-year fight against a proposal to build a 1.8-million-gallon above-ground reservoir near their lavish homes.

Movie producer Robert Evans (“Chinatown,” “Marathon Man”) is among those opposing construction of the 18-foot-high reservoir, which Beverly Hills city officials want to build on a city-owned lot next to Evans’ 3,800-square-foot house.

Evans’ appearance at a recent City Council meeting to protest the reservoir was a reminder that the rich are different: When was the last time you heard a beleaguered homeowner complain about a project by saying it would be built so close to his home that his occasional house guest--pro basketball legend Julius Erving--could practically touch it with his long arm?

“Now is that Beverly Hills?” Evans asked council members rhetorically. “Is that what we stand for?”

The dozen or so homeowners who make up the Citizens for the Protection of Beverly Hills have hired soil experts and a public relations representative.

They’ve made their own disaster video using old flood footage to highlight the potential for a catastrophic collapse. They even brought in satellite photos from Israel arguing that the area was seismically unsafe to support such a water structure.

They’ve circulated letters of support from everyone from Jack Nicholson to Warren Beatty. And they’ve sought the support of Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan, whose director of water services subsequently offered to make the tank unnecessary by sharing L.A. water in case of shortages.

The only thing the homeowners haven’t done is win.

The City Council recently approved the tank on a tentative vote, pending the results of a seismic and structural study that would also chart the flow of water should a catastrophic reservoir break occur. A final vote is expected in January.

The city wants to build the concrete and reinforced steel reservoir on Woodland Avenue as part of an expansion project that also involves repairing and enlarging the nearby Coldwater Canyon reservoir, a 7.7-million-gallon underground facility that was badly damaged in the 1994 earthquake.

City officials had initially hoped that the project would have been well on its way to completion by now, but the prospect of a bitter lawsuit has slowed things down.

“We had meetings with residents and our experts talked to their experts,” Mayor Les Bronte said. “I’ve learned everything I want to know and more about the subject.”

Bronte said he understood the homeowners’ passion and concern, but added, “we need the water. Residential areas, commercial areas, even homes are increasing in size. The city’s demand for water is increasing.”

Both sides have spent money to prove their points. The city, which has the support of most civic groups, estimates it has spent nearly $300,000 to assure the public the project is safe. Opponents say they have spent a similar amount.

“I understand someone who lives next door to a reservoir saying, ‘I want to be absolutely sure this is not going to burst in the middle of the night,’ ” City Manager Mark Scott said. “We have been able to show that this is not a risk.”

Scott said the city is sensitive to aesthetic objections and is willing to build a house-like facade around the 14,000-square-foot tank.

The homeowners living near the project hired an army of experts. Their geologist said the tank should be built underground. Their structural engineer argued that a circular tank was more sturdy than the irregular design being planned. Their water systems expert suggested the city didn’t really need the water.

The one proposal that caught city officials by surprise came from the director of water services for Los Angeles’ Department of Water and Power. For a fee, DWP said, the city would be willing to provide water to Beverly Hills for two years while it was repairing its Coldwater facility.

“This arrangement will make it less costly overall for you to preform necessary repairs to your reservoir, and with less permanent disruption to residents who live in the vicinity of the proposed Woodland Reservoir,” wrote Cecilia K.T. Weldon in a Nov. 18 letter to the Beverly Hills city manager.

Scott said it was an “extraordinary offer,” but he wouldn’t bite.

“We are trying to build a water system for the next 50 years, and [L.A.’s proposal] is an inferior solution to the one we have designed,” he said.

Robert Evans sat in the screening room of his house, surrounded by model renderings of the reservoir, aerial photos, videotapes of the council hearings and 1,000 signatures and letters of support from celebrities from in and outside the city--Sharon Stone, guitarist Slash, actress Cathy Lee Crosby, Kirk Douglas and retailer Fred Hayman. He said the city seemed unwilling to accept their position regardless of what arguments they brought forth.

“We could have had Moses walk across this as well and they wouldn’t have bought it,” he said. “Their minds were made up.”

Mayor Bronte was unimpressed.

“Those are ‘buddy letters,’ ” he said. “When it comes to people coming to the council chambers to speak out, there hasn’t been that kind of support.”