Update #13: Updates & New Donors
Thank you for waiting patiently for this update. We have been working feverishly to investigate our legal options to this oppose this project, and along with our land use attorney have developed a legal strategy which we will begin deploying very soon. More to come.
Silver Spur Canyon Project
We are currently in a waiting period to find out what’s going to happen with the project. The developer Jha submitted his Builder’s Remedy application near the end of January, and he is allowed 180 days to file a final application, which we are still waiting for. It’s due by mid-July, or he loses his right to build a Builder’s Remedy project. Remember, Builder’s Remedy projects are able to skirt pretty much every zoning restriction, including density and height, that a city normally imposes on a development.
Interestingly, a search of Rancho Palos Verdes’ database for other Builder’s Remedy projects shows one other project that was submitted back in January, at 31925 Emerald View Dr., near Trump National golf course. The status is listed as “void“ however, so it appears this project is not currently active. I will keep an eye on this location to see if a new preliminary application is filed. The window for Builder’s Remedy projects is still open until our Housing Element is deemed by the state to be “in substantial compliance” (see below). Developers often wait until just before the Housing Element is approved to submit their Builder’s Remedy applications.
Housing Element
Rancho Palos Verdes’ Housing Element continues to be “out of compliance” ever since the state Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) rejected RPV‘s submission for the second time. Remember, as long as our Housing Element is not “in compliance“, builder’s can submit Builder’s Remedy applications for crazy developments anywhere they want to build, and the city can’t use zoning rules to stop them. That means any piece of property in Rancho Palos Verdes (and in Palos Verdes Estates as their Housing Element is out of compliance as well) including single-family residences, can be purchased and an apartment or condo complex built on the property. Rolling Hills and Rolling Hills Estates have compliant Housing Elements
Rancho Palos Verdes has resubmitted their revised Housing Element to HCD, and HCD has until APRIL 7th to make a decision of whether or not we are in compliance.
Once our Housing Element is in compliance, the Builder’s Remedy avenue for projects is shut down. Unfortunately this doesn’t affect projects that have already filed a preliminary application, and that includes the Silver Spur Canyon project. The only way the city can shut down the Silver Spur Canyon project is if they can show that the project is unsafe or violates state laws. If they can’t do that, our only option is a lawsuit by us private citizens. Litigation preparation is what we are spending our money on right now. If this development prevails, then look for more high-density developers to target the peninsula.
Important Meetings
Rancho Palos Verdes is planning two meetings that we could use everyone’s support in attending:
March 26 - The RPV planning commission will be meeting to discuss the Housing Element and make recommendations to the City Council.
April 16 - the city Council will hold a public hearing to consider the adoption of the Housing Element. In this meeting you will learn where the city proposes we put future high-density developments that are being required by the state.
Our goal in these meetings is to encourage the city to “adopt” the current Housing Element
so that the state can put us “in compliance”. We need to shut down the Builder’s Remedy avenue so projects like the Silver Spur Canyon project don’t sprout up next to your house or anywhere else in Rancho Palos Verdes. We also want to encourage the City to be more proactive during the next Housing Element cycle, coming in 5 years, so we don’t spend any time out of compliance and risk another Builder’s Remedy project.
Yard signs
You’ve probably noticed our red and white yard signs. We have already distributed all of the first printing but will be printing up another batch. Please email us back if you would like one and we will place one in your yard. We’d like to thank Scott Shapiro for helping us design and print the first run of signs, as well as distribute them. He and his wife Kianna did all this out of their own pockets. Thank you so much!
Meeting with Representatives
We were able to meet with Cody Bridges, the Palos Verdes Peninsula representative of State Assemblyman Al Muratsuchi. Cody was very helpful and gave us the big picture of how issues like ours are viewed at the state level. We were very vocal about our concerns for placing this development in the canyon. Assemblyman Muratsuchi was kind enough to write a letter on behalf of the City of Rancho Palos Verdes to encourage HCD to put our Housing Element “in compliance”. There is some evidence that this may have been effective; we will keep you informed.
PVP Watch
Many of you probably subscribe to the newsletter “PVP Watch”, which has a wide circulation throughout the Peninsula. if you’re not a subscriber, I urge you to do so to keep up with important news about the Peninsula. They were kind enough to interview us and include us in their story on Builder’s Remedy projects.
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Fundraiser by Aurora R : SAVE OUR NEIGHBORHOOD (gofundme.com)
Do you own a drone?
If so, we can use your help. We’d like to have a photograph from about the same height and direction as is represented in the Google Earth rendition of the Silver Spur Canyon project below. This will allow our artist to create a more visually accurate rendition of the project.
