Supermodel Gigi Hadid’s dad will now proceed with developing land he owns between the San Fernando Valley and Beverly Hills, after clearing a major hurdle in court, the L.A. Times reported.
Los Angeles developer Mohamed Hadid won an appeal last week in a long-term legal battle with hiking activists, who wanted the area in front of his home to remain in use as a public trail.
The Friends of the Hastain Trail, an activist group that sued Hadid in an attempt to keep the trail public, said it wants a rehearing and would go as far as petitioning the California Supreme Court.
Hadid has owned the 100-acre parcel since 2002, the Times reported. The trail cuts across it. The parcel is zoned for up to 13 houses but Hadid plans to build four or five that will blend into the landscape, he told the paper. He also plans to donate a portion of the land to the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy to create an alternate trail loop for hikers, he said.
But activists do not believe that Hadid will follow through with his promises. Their attorney Stephen Jones said the alternative trail was “not even close to being the same thing.” [LAT] — Cathaleen Chen