A lawsuit filed Wednesday challenges the city’s right to deny housing projects for not fitting the character of a neighborhood.
A lawsuit filed Wednesday challenges the city’s right to deny housing projects for not fitting the character of a neighborhood.
The Santa Monica Housing Council and the California Housing Council filed a joint lawsuit against Santa Monica because they believe the city violates state law when it denies housing projects that otherwise conform to zoning codes for not being compatible with surrounding buildings.
California has enacted legislation forbidding cities from denying market-rate housing projects based on subjective findings, the lawsuit states.
“This lawsuit is the latest example of the city’s long-standing efforts to evade complying with state housing law, which explains the reason why Santa Monica has such a growing imbalance between employment and housing,” said Santa Monica Housing Council President Robert Sullivan, in a prepared statement.
3A7,“The state Department of Housing and Community Development has issued an opinion explaining why the city of Santa Monica is wrong on this issue,” he said. “Unfortunately, the city isn’t listening.”
City Attorney Marsha Moutrie said she has not read the lawsuit that was filed Wednesday, but she had read a draft of a lawsuit the housing councils previously submitted.
She said the state code the lawsuit refers to has existed for many years, and was initially enacted to prevent cities from excluding affordable housing from being built.
However, Moutrie said that is hardly the case in Santa Monica, where the city council has long had an aggressive policy toward building more affordable housing in the city.
Moutrie also said the city has an excellent record of allowing market-rate housing to be built, especially in the city’s downtown area, and the state has certified the city’s plan for building its share of regional housing.
527,“The fact is Santa Monica very, very seldom denies discretionary permits for a project,” she said. “Nonetheless, it seems likely to me that we would assert in this lawsuit that we retain the power to deny projects based on compatibility.”
Chris Harding, an attorney for the Santa Monica Housing Council, said the city has paid more than $1 million during the past decade in attorneys fees to successful plaintiffs who have sued the city to compel compliance with state housing laws.
The Santa Monica Housing Council has successfully sued the city four times in the past ten years, according to the lawsuit.
Harding said his firm has tried to work out a compromise with the city, but when officials would not recognize officials must conform to state law, the lawsuit was the housing council’s only option.
“We have made it clear we were willing to litigate on this issue,” Harding said. “It’s not about punishing the city, this is about housing.”
“We have made it clear we were willing to litigate on this issue. It’s not about punishing the city, this is about housing.” — — CHRIS HARDING Santa Monica Housing Council, attorney
Darrell Clarke, chair of the planning commission, said it is very rare for the city to deny projects or reduce the number of units in a building based on aesthetics or neighborhood compatibility.
“Of condominium projects that have come before the planning commission, we have made design changes,” he said. “But we just try to make sure it fits in with the neighborhood.”
And Councilwoman Pam O’Connor said it’s part of the city’s role to make sure a development fits in with an area so residents are not inconvenienced and they are able to still enjoy living in their neighborhood.
“People want neighborhoods, they don’t want tenements,” she said. “We could build structures that strictly house people, but those buildings also have to work for people. It’s about building neighborhoods.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on November 14, 2002. Read the original PDF.