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The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit has extended a stay on a judge’s order to build housing on the VA’s West Los Angeles campus and set an early hearing for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ appellate hearing in April.
The order issued Monday night ends U.S. District Judge David O. Carter’s hotly pursued goal of opening up to 200 temporary housing units by early next year.
The Department of Veterans Affairs has responded to President Carter’s sweeping order in October to build hundreds of temporary and permanent housing units on campus by defunding critical health care funding (up to $1 billion for all housing units). The appeal was filed on the grounds that forced diversion would cause “irreparable harm.” Services to Veterans.
In the weeks since issuing his ruling, Carter has ordered Veterans Affairs officials and the plaintiff’s veteran housing specialists to urgently install modular units in UCLA’s Jackie Robinson Stadium parking lot and other open spaces on campus. He worked tirelessly to get it manufactured.
Following Mr. Carter’s repeated admonitions to “get it done,” Plaintiffs’ experts Steve Soboroff and Randy Johnson, developers of Playa Vista, teamed up with global architecture firm Gensler to complete the project by spring. He had created a plan that he believed could be realized.
Under pressure from a judge, Veterans Affairs officials said they could pay the small cost of the temporary unit and worked with Soboroff and Johnson to identify the site and map public facilities. provided.
However, the government appealed. The Court of Appeals’ Nov. 8 emergency injunction stalled the purchase of the modular units and blocked the developer’s access to the VA site.
Carter’s order is based on behalf of the VA, which alleges the VA failed to meet its obligations to provide on-campus housing to disabled and homeless veterans and illegally leased portions of its 388-acre campus to UCLA Brentwood. It stems from a class action lawsuit filed by There are some other external concerns as well.
After a four-week trial in August, Carter ordered the Veterans Administration to build 1,800 new units of supportive housing and 750 units of temporary housing on campus. His ruling also voided leases on VA assets, including UCLA and Brentwood School, and ordered the VA to hire more support staff. He then issued an emergency order to remove that number of temporary units and immediately build 200 units, including 32 in the parking lot of UCLA’s Jackie Robinson Stadium.
Mark Rosenbaum, a plaintiff’s attorney with the pro bono firm Public Counsel, said he appreciates the move forward, but not the government’s position.
“The administration’s action to seek a stay citing lack of resources belies the administration’s commitment to end veteran homelessness as soon as possible,” Rosenbaum said.
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