L.A.s' "Density bonus" equals political malpractice

Today's lead editorial

ONE of the important checks to weed out incompetent doctors, and keep them from injuring or killing their patients, is the prospect of a legitimate malpractice lawsuit.

For that reason, it's telling that the lawyer who filed a lawsuit on behalf of a Valley Village woman against the city of Los Angeles referred to the city's density bonus as "political malpractice."

And why not?

If malpractice lawsuits can help protect the public from harmful medical incompetence, why not a lawsuit that can protect the public from harmful political incompetence?

Sadly, suing City Hall often seems the only way that Angelenos can get their leaders' attention.

This suit, by Angeleno Sandy Hubbard, sprang from a recommendation by none other than L.A. Planning Commission President Jane Ellison Usher, who recommended that someone challenge the policy in court.

It was, to be sure, unusual for a top city official to publicly acknowledge the futility of trying to appeal to elected officials' sense of civic duty. But to her credit, Usher frankly advised residents to sue before this new building rule wrecks neighborhoods.

The so-called "density bonus" that the Los Angeles City Council adopted earlier this year - and which Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has endorsed in spirit - allows developers to run roughshod over the few city planning restrictions that could protect the public from bad development.

If developers include "affordable housing" in their project - a questionable prospect considering the volatility of the real-estate market at the moment - they are allowed to break rules, such as rules on providing parking, and to construct towering buildings that don't fit into a neighborhood.

This is not about the "smart growth" that the council, the mayor and developers like to talk about. It's about serving the needs of special interests - developers who line campaign coffers - while seeming to serve the needs of unfortunate Angelenos, thus appeasing community and housing advocates.

City officials can encourage affordable housing in Los Angeles without selling out already-stressed neighborhoods and making current residents pay the costs. So far, officials have just chosen not to.

Resorting to the courts is never ideal. But in this case, it seems that it's the only way the city's leaders will do the right thing for their constituents.