Saga To Defeat West LA Affordable Housing Project Continues As Opponents File Lawsuit

After the city of Los Angeles rejected their appeal challenging an affordable housing project on L.A.’s Westside, opponents of the development have filed a lawsuit to continue their fight.

The complaint filed in late March claims the city violated the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) by denying opponents the chance to express their concerns in a public hearing and have their appeal put to a vote by the city council.

One of the developers behind the project, Steven Scheibe, said the lawsuit didn’t come as a surprise. But it could further delay a project the city originally said would be exempt from CEQA.

“It continues to be frustrating that there are these pathways to delay, stall and add costs to housing developments, especially those that are affordable,” Scheibe said.

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How opponents got here

The 44-unit project is aiming to bring low- and moderate-income apartments to L.A.’s Sawtelle neighborhood through a program known as ED1. Back when L.A. Mayor Karen Bass created this program during her first week in office, she said the city would fast-track 100% affordable housing projects in part by making them exempt from CEQA.

But CEQA challenges have succeeded at delaying some ED1 projects. Late last year, the city’s planning department accepted CEQA appeals for the Sawtelle project, as well as a separate development in Sherman Oaks. After months of consideration, city officials ultimately rejected those appeals, saying they improperly tried to overturn ED1 in its entirety.

LAist reached out to Allen Pachtman — one of the opponents of the Sawtelle project and the owner of an apartment building located next to the proposed development — but did not hear back about why he chose to file the lawsuit. His attorney declined to comment.

Their lawsuit does not make any specific claims about how the apartment building could potentially harm the environment. Instead, the complaint focuses on the city’s approval process and whether it complies with the state environmental law.

What projects should be up for review?

UC Davis law professor Chris Elmendorf said CEQA provides housing opponents with easy mechanisms for slowing down projects they don’t like. This case, he said, takes a broad view that all projects are subject to CEQA appeals — even if city officials have determined they pose no environmental harm and should not be subject to expensive, lengthy reviews.

“It seems preposterous to think that literally every single permit could be appealed, no matter how frivolously, to a city council,” Elmendorf said. “Does that mean now that if your neighbor for some reason has some beef with you, and they just want to be a pain, that they can appeal your bathroom [renovation] permit to the city council?”

Elmendorf believes state lawmakers should consider reforming CEQA to put project opponents on the hook for legal fees if their challenges are determined to be frivolous.

Scheibe said his team has pulled permits and started construction on the Sawtelle project. He plans to keep building, but worries a court decision could put a halt to the project at any time.

“One of the reasons we found ED1 to be attractive was that there was lessened uncertainty around the development process,” Scheibe said. “It's definitely frustrating that we continue to have to handle these hurdles that are thrown our way as part of the development of affordable housing in the city of L.A.”

The stakes are high for the city. Under state law, L.A. must plan for about 185,000 new low-income homes by 2029. According to a progress report prepared by the city’s planning department last summer, the city at that time had only permitted around 5,400 low-income units.

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