The city of Los Angeles violated state law when it blocked the approval of a seven-story affordable apartment building in the San Fernando Valley, according to a ruling on Thursday from a county judge.
The case has pitted housing advocates seeking faster approvals across the city against local officials who want to keep low-income apartments away from areas reserved for single-family homes.
In a key decision, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge James Chalfant largely sided with the plaintiffs. He said in this case, the city used later regulatory changes to retroactively deny the project, a reversal that broke state and local laws.
“The city’s attempt to require the project to comply with policies not in effect when the preliminary application was submitted is a violation of the [Housing Accountability Act],” Chalfant wrote in a tentative ruling that was upheld in Thursday’s court hearing. He added that he would order the city to “set aside its disapproval of the project application.”
How this case ended up in court
This dispute revolves around Executive Directive One (ED1), the signature affordable housing program Mayor Karen Bass signed during her first week in office. Developers quickly flocked to the program, which promised speedy application and permit approvals within about two months in exchange for agreements to keep units affordable to low and middle-income renters.
So far, the program has approved more than 15,000 units of affordable housing.
In March 2023, a developer submitted plans to build 360 low- and moderate-income apartments in Winnetka through ED1. However, the city ended up putting the Winnetka development and…
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