KTLA

Lawsuits Target City of L.A. Over New Laws for Homeless Housing Projects, Motel Conversions

A Venice group sued the city of Los Angeles on Friday over a pair of laws recently passed by the City Council that are intended to ease requirements for sheltering homeless people.

Marcus Steinlechner drags his bedding between a garbage truck and a city sanitation truck during a sweep of homeless encampments on the boardwalk at Venice Beach on June 26, 2015. (Credit: Los Angeles Times)

Oxford Triangle Assn. claims in a suit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court that the city failed to fully consider the environmental impacts of the two laws. Another group, Fight Back, Venice, filed an identical suit Friday, said Jamie Hall, the attorney for both groups.

The ordinances being challenged make it easier to build permanent supportive housing and to convert motels to units for homeless people.

The lawsuits cite the California Environmental Quality Act, which requires government officials to fully evaluate a new development’s impact on the environment. The plaintiffs want to set aside the laws and force the city to require full environmental reviews for projects.

Read the full story on LATimes.com.

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