Kalnel Gardens, LLC v. City of Los Angeles

Developer Kalnel Gardens, LLC, appeals from the judgment denying its petition for a writ of administrative mandate seeking to overturn the City of Los Angeles’s (City) decision to halt a previously approved 15-unit housing project in Venice. We dismiss the appeal in part as to the developer’s cause of action based on the Housing Accountability Act (Gov. Code, § 65589.5 et seq.) because the developer did not seek appellate review by way of a writ petition as required by that statute. We affirm as to the remaining causes of action because there is substantial evidence that the proposed project violated the visual and scenic elements requirement of the California Coastal Act of 1976 (Pub. Resources Code, § 30000 et seq.; Coastal Act), and because the Coastal Act takes precedence over statutes awarding density and height increase bonuses for proposed residential developments that include affordable housing units.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

In 2013, City of Los Angeles planning officials approved Kalnel Gardens, LLC’s (Kalnel) proposed project to tear down a two-story, three-unit apartment building at the triangular intersection of Mildred and Ocean Avenues and Venice…