A group calling itself the Supporter’s Alliance for Environmental Responsibility, or “SAFER,” appealed a proposed mixed-use development previously approved by the city Planning Commission last fall. On Monday evening, the West Hollywood City Council heard their appeal but rejected SAFER’s claims that the development was approved despite several technical errors and insufficient findings.

The seven-story complex will be located at 8025 Santa Monica Blvd. and will include 110 residential apartments above 3,795 square feet of first-floor retail. Fifteen of the units will be set aside as affordable, and a subterranean garage will contain 115 spaces for autos. Most residents will not be afforded space for two automobiles, an increasing practice in new developments designed to encourage the use of public transit and to keep the overall cost of construction down.

Specifically, SAFER claims the proposed development should not qualify for a California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) exemption afforded to infill development, as they say the new building will produce a significant quantity of emissions. They add that it was approved without a sufficient number of mitigation measures to limit those emissions and that the fee to appeal was set so high as to be a burden for them as appellants.

Marjan Abubo, representing SAFER, said the fee was as high as $13,000.

City staff countered on all fronts, beginning with the fact that infill developments that meet five specific conditions pertaining to size and impact, which this does, are in fact exempt from CEQA. Staff also reminded the council that the state Housing Accountability Act puts the onus on cities to favor the development of multi-family housing and that the city’s requirement for units zoned between 2021 and 2029 is a challenging 3,933 new units. In addition, the State has a hand in determining the fees for an appeal, and they are adjusted each year. They argued that they need to be high enough to pay for the work city staff have to put into researching and considering the appeal.

Former Councilmember Steve Martin, speaking in support of the development, said “This has probably been the most frivolous appeal I have seen in years. I don’t know who these people are, or what their plan is, but if you’re going to have construction, you’re going to have some issues that may not be mitigated.” He added, “They did not point out anything that showed that the construction here was going to be in any way excessive in generating particulate matter or diesel.”

Given a chance to rebut those in favor of the project, Abubo took the opportunity to question the affordability of the units, saying “It’s kind of a mischaracterization, in my opinion, to call this an affordable housing project.” This last-minute argument, however, wasn’t at the heart of the appeal, which was largely environmental and process-related.

Councilmember Lauren Meister didn’t find any of the three assertions made by the appellants “compelling.” Councilmember Sepi Shyne agreed.

“When I look at the appeal, there are three main points and none of them have merit in my mind,” concurred Councilmember John Heilman. He also questioned SAFER’s legitimacy and their claim that the fee to file the appeal is too expensive, pointing out that there is a workaround for that, which is for the appellant to gather 50 signatures from residents. “I don’t think signatures were submitted because I don’t think the appellant is really representing a group of West Hollywood residents and business owners.”

Vice Mayor Chelsea Byers also questioned the appeal as having legitimate local opposition.

“I find this project very forward thinking in what’s going on with a vacant property and building housing,” said Mayor John Erickson, who took the final word as is the mayor’s custom.

Following a unanimous 5-0 vote to deny the appeal, the demolition of an existing commercial property and the development of the mixed-use project will move forward.

Image obtained by screen grab