INFO ALERT: NEW INTEL to fight LA Housing Crisis- SCAG region CEQA lawsuit research

Look at the facts, hot off the press… Last 3 years of real data: Biggest target of CEQA lawsuits were filed to STOP HOUSING. Most suits were against infill and multi family housing. This is the exact kind of housing that Californians and Public Officials are crying out for! Local, County and State governments are seeking funding mechanisms to solve the housing crisis. If we don’t fix the law suit abuse, the housing crisis will continue no matter how much funding is made available.

Help get this indisputable research in to our lawmakers hands and the media. The facts need to be known and shared.

In BizFed’s ongoing efforts to inform and educate our members regarding CEQA abuse litigation and exemptions available to developers, we wanted to share the latest report from awesome memberJennifer Hernandez, Holland & Knight.

Please CLICK HERE for the full report. Here are a few highlights:

• The new report shows an overall increase in the number of CEQA lawsuits filed in the SCAG region.  The biggest target of CEQA lawsuits were residential projects (33%); the next most frequent target was public service/infrastructure projects (14%).  In the previous report, a roughly equal number of residential projects and public service/infrastructure projects were targeted.
• About 14,000 housing units were targeted by CEQA lawsuits during the study period.
• 98% of the challenged housing units were in infill locations (using the OPR definition of infill, which is “existing communities” within incorporated cities, and unincorporated county sites surrounded by development).  This report discusses the “infill” debate underway on the By Right proposal, where for example the Planning and Conservation League suggested an “infill” definition based on a 5,000 person per mile density criteria that excludes San Diego, San Jose and San Francisco.
• 71% of the challenged housing units were in projects that included no single family homes (i.e., all targeted units were multi-family/attached products).
• This report also includes a CEQA lawsuit that successfully stopped a 200-bed homeless shelter.
• This is an update to “In the Name of the Environment” CEQA litigation abuse report, which covers the next three years of CEQA lawsuits (2013-2015).  This update is limited to the SCAG region. Updates for the other regions will be forthcoming over the next couple of months.

You can also view the report on Holland & Knight’s Website by CLICKING HERE.

If you have any questions regarding this Info Alert please contact Dustan Batton at Dustan.Batton@BizFed.org