April 22--A nonprofit that has launched a campaign to crack down on "mega-developments" is suing the city of Los Angeles over its approval of two residential towers next to the Hollywood Palladium.
The AIDS Healthcare Foundation wants the courts to invalidate city approval of the Palladium Residences, which would be erected next door to its Hollywood headquarters on Sunset Boulevard. The towers are expected to rise as high as 30 stories near a Metro Red Line stop.
The lawsuit, filed Thursday, argues that Los Angeles violated the city charter, the California Environmental Quality Act and other laws when it gave the green light for the project. The City Council backed a zoning change and other key approvals for the Hollywood development last month.
The suit also names the company developing the project, which opponents argue is too tall and too dense for its location.
"City Hall, in cahoots with the Palladium developer, has run roughshod over L.A.'s zoning laws in approving this monstrous project," AIDS Healthcare Foundation president Michael Weinstein said.
The suit also challenges the broader practice of "spot zoning," which Weinstein described as altering city rules for a particular site to allow development that otherwise would be barred.
Backers of the $324-million Palladium project have argued that it would provide sorely needed housing; they say the towers are similar in size to other Hollywood buildings along major boulevards.
Rob Wilcox, a spokesman for City Atty. Mike Feuer, could not be reached Thursday night for comment. Steve Afriat, a spokesman for the Palladium Residences, said the developer had not been able to review the lawsuit as of Thursday evening.
However, he said, the suit was "yet one more demonstration of the reckless abuse of funds on the part of a nonprofit whose intention is to help people with AIDS and HIV." Afriat said the foundation's executive director was intent on preserving his Hollywood views.
And Weinstein said that Afriat was trying to divert attention from his group's concerns and that the fight against the Palladium Residences project -- and mega-developments across the city -- was indeed tied to the nonprofit's mission.
"I cannot understand why nonprofits shouldn't have as much to say about the future of our community as developers," Weinstein said. "For us, gentrification is a social justice issue."
Beyond the legal battle, the nonprofit has become a major player in the battle over the size and scale of development in Los Angeles, gathering signatures for a ballot measure that would put a two-year moratorium on many developments that don't fit existing planning and zoning rules.
Those new mega-developments are replacing older apartments that fall under rent control, forcing out tenants, the AIDS nonprofit and other supporters argue. Opponents have countered that the proposed ballot measure would end up hurting renters by clamping down on new construction, thereby worsening the affordable housing crisis.
The AIDS Healthcare Foundation and its allies in the Coalition to Preserve L.A. aim to put their proposal on the March 2017 ballot.
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