Planning board head urges litigation over new density-bonus rule for developers

According to a recent article in the Daily News by reporter Kerry Cavanaugh, a top L.A. planning official has let community avtivists know that a a new ordinance allowing developers to construct taller, bulkier buildings is "ripe for immediate litigation."

Planning Commission President Jane Ellison Usher, who was selected by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa to sit on the commission, sent e-mails May 10 to activists and offered a strategy they can use to sue the city over the controversial new density-bonus rule.

According to the policy, developers may construct the larger buildings - with fewer parking spaces - as long as they include affordable housing.

Usher has been an outspoken critic of the ordinance. She told told the Daily News, "At the end of the day, the loser is the neighborhood and the winner is the developer - and the affording housing that the community receives is peanuts."

She also pointed out that if there are residents who want to sue over the new rule, there are statutes of limitations that are short.