The New Lawsuit Also Comes After Two Separate l.a. Superior Court Rulings Rejected a Coalition’s Multi-Year Effort to Halt the Project
A group of advocates for the 140-unit Venice Dell Community housing project have sued the City of Los Angeles, accusing local officials of intentionally obstructing what the plaintiffs describe as a vital development for the unsheltered.
The lawsuit, brought forward by LA Forward Institute, Sylvia Aroth, Professor Gary Williams, and an unhoused individual named Kathy Coates, claims the affordable housing project has been unnecessarily stalled following the 2022 elections of Councilmember Traci Park and City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto who both, according to the lawsuit, oppose the development.
The complaint asserts that city officials excised regular meetings with developers, failed to sign off on approvals needed before Venice Dell could break ground and redirected communication to the city attorney’s office. It also blames Mayor Karen Bass for deferring to Councilmember Park rather than directing city officials to move the project forward.
The lawsuit further alleges that these obstructions discriminate against people of color and those with disabilities; a potential violation of equal protection under the California Constitution and fair housing laws.
“While the mayor, the City Council, and the voters have been publicly supporting and adopting policies to expedite the housing solutions we need … some elected officials, acting on bias against the project and the Black, Brown, and disabled low-income and unhoused people it will serve, are pursuing backdoor strategies to thwart those efforts,” said Faizah Malik, managing attorney in the Community Development Project at Public Counsel, in a release.
Set for development on a 2.7-acre site at 200 N. Venice Blvd., one block inland from Venice beach and a short walk from the canals, Venice Dell Community was approved by City Council in 2021. After a bid process five years earlier for affordable housing proposals on City-owned properties, the City approved a recommendation to select Venice Community Housing and Hollywood Community Housing as co-developers for the site.
Of the 140 units included in the current concept, 34 apartments are designated for low-income artists, 34 for low-income households, four for on-site personnel, with the remaining units being permanent supportive housing. Small-scale retail, green/open space and public parking are also set to be included.
Coates, the unhoused plaintiff named in the new lawsuit, stated in a release how Venice Dell could help people in situations akin to her’s find stable, safe and affordable homes.
“I couldn’t keep up with the rent at my apartment in Mar Vista and made the difficult decision to move into a motorhome over a year ago. Since my partner and I have been living in our vehicle, we’ve gotten first hand experience with how the City and some of its residents treat people like us.” Coates said in the release. “It’s time for the City to let Venice Dell be built and bring more folks like me inside.”
The new lawsuit also comes after two separate L.A. Superior Court rulings rejected a coalition’s multi-year effort to halt the project, knocking down some of Venice Dell’s biggest obstructions and paving a clearer path toward completion.
On May 21, Judge Richard Fruin dismissed arguments from the Coalition for Safe Coastal Development; a 501(c)(4) which describes the conceived complex as something “recklessly rushed through the City approval process by a Councilman subsequently pushed out of office.” The nonprofit argued the project didn’t meet requirements for environmental review exemptions, among other claims. But Judge Fruin rejected those assertions.
Weeks later, another victory was handed to the project when Judge James C. Chalfant rejected CSCD’s argument that a Disposition and Development Agreement violated L.A. Administrative Code. The ruling stated that the city acted fully within its rights to enter that agreement.
“The courts have now removed the last remaining legal challenge holding up development of this desperately needed housing.” Sarah Letts, Executive Director of Hollywood Community Housing, said in a release following Chalfant’s ruling.
Speaking with Mirror Media Group shortly after the ruling, a spokesperson with the coalition said while it agrees affordable housing is necessary, developments at an “extraordinary taxpayer cost” that dismisses environment protection in a FEMA-designated flood zone is “irresponsible.”
“The judge’s decision repeatedly admitted the project did not meet some of the criteria for CEQA exemption (California Environmental Quality Act) when approved in December of 2021, but then declared the developer could fix these problems later. This is not our understanding of how the state’s laws work,” said the spokesperson.
Shortly after Judge Fruin’s court ruling, with major disruptions to Venice Dell seemingly out of the way, the Los Angeles Times issued an Op-Ed urging Mayor Karen Bass and L.A. City officials to finally comply with developers.
According to the piece, local agencies stopped working with Venice Community Housing and Hollywood Community Housing Corp., as contracts and parking garage designs were being finished, permission to relocate and compensate tenants from the project site were being obtained and approvals from the California Coastal Commission awaited. Venice Community Housing’s Executive Director Becky Dennison alleges that City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto told officials not to work with her, delaying the project’s completion.
Since Mayor Bass expressed affordable housing as a priority, the Op-Ed demands she do more than defer the matter to Venice’s City Councilmember Traci Park (who opposes the project), and work to get Venice Dell on the fast-track.
“This is one of those rare open swaths of land that city officials dream of using for homeless and affordable housing.” as stated in The Times Editorial Board’s piece. “The office of City Atty. Hydee Feldstein Soto, who was on record opposing this project before she was elected and took office in late 2022, began looking for excuses to derail it — all of which have been rebutted by the developers’ attorneys … Now that the lawsuit against the city and developers has been rejected, it’s time for the city to stop stalling.”
According to Josh Kamesnky, a spokesman for the Venice Dell developers, the following remains for the project to move forward: approval to build the public parking structure to replace the surface parking, approval of the ground lease, to transfer most of the land (besides public parking) to the development team, an Ellis Act application and approval from the Coastal Commission.
