LOS
ANGELES, July 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Californians
for Homeownership, a nonprofit organization sponsored by
the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF
REALTORS® (C.A.R.) that aims to address
California's housing crisis
through impact litigation, today announced that it has filed a
lawsuit against the city of Beverly
Hills over its denial of an application to build a 165-unit
mixed-use development in the city's urban core. The lawsuit is the
group's second filed against Beverly
Hills, after a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge ruled
in its favor in another housing lawsuit late last year.
This is the organization's first lawsuit filed under the
so-called "builder's remedy"— a provision of state law that
requires the approval of mixed-income projects in cities that have
violated state housing element law, such as Beverly Hills. Filed immediately after the
city's June 27 city council meeting,
the new lawsuit seeks a court order approving the project.
"Californians for Homeownership continues to lead the way in
enforcing state housing laws in the courts," said C.A.R. President
Melanie Barker. "It is critical that
cities like Beverly Hills do their
part in addressing the state's housing crisis, and this new case
will help ensure that they do."
In the organization's prior lawsuit against Beverly Hills, the court ruled that the City
had based its state-mandated housing plans on the development of
sites that were unlikely to be redeveloped in the near future,
including established medical clinics and modern, well-leased
office buildings. The court also faulted the city for
overestimating the number of units likely to be constructed on
those sites.
"We won our last case against Beverly
Hills because the city's housing plans were unreasonable and
unlikely to produce affordable housing," said Matthew Gelfand, the in-house litigator for the
nonprofit. "Now, a developer has come forward with a real plan to
build housing, including income-restricted affordable units, and
the City said, 'no.' We had no choice but to return to court to
address the city's continued resistance to housing
development."
The project rejected by Beverly
Hills is a mixed-use development proposed for a vacant lot
on Linden Drive, just south of the city's Golden Triangle area and
surrounded by office buildings, retail centers, and high rises. Of
the 165 residential units, 33 would be reserved for lower-income
households. The project is one of several "builder's remedy"
proposals in Beverly Hills, most
of which seek to develop vacant or nearly vacant lots in existing
high-density commercial corridors.
As state law has increasingly made it illegal for local agencies
to reject housing development projects, cities have turned to
alternative approaches to prevent the construction of new housing.
In this case, Beverly Hills
refused to acknowledge the completeness of the developer's
application, ensuring that the city would never be forced to make a
formal decision on the project. These pretextual "incompleteness
determinations" are an increasingly common tool used by cities to
disguise housing rejections and attempt to insulate their decisions
against legal challenge. In March, a judge rejected a similar
attempt by the City of La Cañada Flintridge, holding that the city's
incompleteness determination was legally equivalent to denying the
project. And the state Department of Housing and Community
Development specifically warned Beverly
Hills that it would be a violation of state law to issue an
incompleteness determination for the Linden Drive project.
The new lawsuit was brought under California's Housing Accountability Act, which
contains the "builder's remedy" law. Under the Act, organizations
like Californians for Homeownership are entitled to sue in
their own name to challenge housing denials, under a special
organizational standing provision. The city will bear the burden of
proof in the case and will be required to prepare the record for
the case on an expedited basis, at its own expense. If the court
determines that Beverly Hills
acted in bad faith, the court can order the project approved with
no further hearing by the city.
The case is Californians for Homeownership v. City of Beverly
Hills, Los Angeles County Superior Court Case No. 24STCP02082.
Case documents are available on request.
Californians for Homeownership is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit
organization sponsored by the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF
REALTORS® devoted to using legal tools to address
California's housing crisis. For too long, California's cities have
treated compliance with state and federal housing law as optional.
The organization seeks to change that attitude by proactively
enforcing the law, on behalf of the important public interest in
having additional housing available to families at all income
levels. Californians for Homeownership was established by the
CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (C.A.R.), and it
receives financial support from C.A.R. and private donors. To make
a tax-deductible charitable contribution today, visit
caforhomes.org.
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SOURCE CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION
OF REALTORS® (C.A.R.)