The city of Los Angeles is being sued by the group Fix The City over a controversial homeless housing project on the Westside that the group says was approved without environmental review or a competitive bid process. But beyond that tussle, the suit questions Mayor Karen Bass’ power to declare a housing or homelessness emergency, her much-touted emergency declaration and her related executive directives.
If Fix The City prevails in court, fundamental rules put in place by Bass that define her mayoralty, including her use of a homeless emergency declaration and quick approval of housing and other facilities for the unhoused, could run into trouble.
Fix The City, known for challenging L.A. officials on land-use issues, is suing over the City Council’s approval of a 33-bed interim housing facility at Midvale Avenue and West Pico Boulevard, across from the former Westside Pavilion in a neighborhood with single-family homes and small businesses.
The council approved the project in October, including nearly $4.6 million in construction costs, despite insistence from critics that there are better locations for a so-called “low barrier” facility that accepts people battling drug addiction or mental illness – but does not allow registered sex offenders.
Critics have proposed alternative sites that are further from single-family homes and local businesses.
“There is a reason why you’re not supposed to put a ‘low barrier’ homeless shelter in a single-family neighborhood. It’s two communities that are fundamentally incompatible,” said Mike Eveloff, president of Fix The City.
The project site is a corner lot that backs up to single-family homes along Midvale Avenue and is surrounded by small businesses along Pico Boulevard.
Fix The City, represented by attorney Robert Silverstein of The Silverstein Law Firm in Pasadena, alleged in its lawsuit that in a rush to address homelessness and affordable housing issues, the city violated state and city…
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