The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has said it plans to appeal a federal judge’s decision to have the department foot the bill for building emergency veteran housing at the West L.A. campus.
Brad Rosenberg, the department’s attorney, said in court Friday that the appeal will be filed next week. Part of it will argue that the payment will cause irreparable harm to the V.A.’s funding.
But U.S. District Judge David O. Carter said that for now, the construction must continue.
“Until I get a stay from the Ninth Circuit, we go forward,” he said, adding that he wants quick work to bring veterans indoors before the rainy season.
On Sept. 6, Carter ruled on a lawsuit on behalf of veterans with disabilities, issuing two emergency orders to speed up the creation of temporary “modular” housing on the campus — essentially, tiny homes that are built ahead of time in factories.
Carter continued to pressure officials on speeding up the timeline for the temporary housing. Kelly Farrell from the architectural firm Gensler, which is working on the housing plans, said they’re still narrowing down specifics for utilities to meet housing standards.
Carter pushed back.
“We can truck in showers. We can truck in toilets. We can get sewage overland, you don’t have to trench,” he said. “You’ve already got lighting in the stadium for goodness sakes. I don’t want perfect — I want good.”
Background on the case
Carter has ordered the creation of 2,550 additional housing units for unhoused veterans — including 750 temporary homes with supportive services within 18 months at the sprawling West L.A. Veterans Affairs campus, and construction of additional…
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