Library Gardens appeals affordable housing law
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Developers of the largest downtown housing project in recent memory have challenged a city law requiring new developments to include affordable housing. Library Gardens L.P., developers of the 176-unit Library Gardens project at 2020 Kittredge St., has appealed its own use permit – which the Zoning Adjustments Board awarded the company in October – to the City Council. The group, headed by local developer TransAction Companies, is asking the council to strike out those sections of its use permit, which, according to the city’s inclusionary housing policy, require 20 percent of the units in the project to be rented at below-market rates. Lawyers for Library Gardens charge that the Costa-Hawkins Act, a measure passed by the California legislature in 1995, which placed strict limits on local rent control laws, also invalidates the inclusionary housing policy. The council will probably hear the appeal in January. If, as expected, the council denies the appeal, a lawsuit testing the legality of the city’s law could follow. More : berkeleydaily.org |