Appeals court extends stay of judges order to build veterans housing

LOS ANGELES — The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has extended its stay of a judge's order to build housing on the VA's West Los Angeles campus, setting an expedited April hearing for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs' appeal.

The order issued Monday night ends U.S. District Judge David O. Carter's fervently pursued goal to have as many as 200 units of the temporary housing opened by early next year.

The VA appealed in October Carter's sweeping order that it build hundreds of temporary and permanent housing units on the campus, saying that it would cause "irreparable harm" by forcing the agency to divert funds — up to $1 billion for all the housing — from crucial services to veterans.

In the weeks since issuing his judgment, Carter incessantly pushed VA officials and the veteran plaintiffs' housing experts to quickly produce modular units on the parking lot of UCLA's Jackie Robinson stadium and other vacant parcels on the campus.

Following Carter's repeated admonishments to "get it done," the plaintiffs' experts, Steve Soboroff and Randy Johnson, the developers of Playa Vista, had teamed with the global architecture firm Gensler to draw up plans they said could be realized by spring.

Under pressure from the judge, VA officials said they could pay for the modest cost of the temporary units and worked with Soboroff and Johnson to identify sites and provide maps of utilities.

But meanwhile, the government appealed. The appeals court's Nov. 8 emergency stay stalled the purchase of the modular units and blocked the developers' access to the VA property.

Carter's orders stem from a class-action lawsuit filed on behalf of veterans that alleged the VA had failed in its duty to provide housing on the campus for disabled and homeless veterans and had illegally leased portions of the 388-acre campus to UCLA, Brentwood School and several other outside interests.

After a four-week trial in August, Carter ordered the VA to produce 1,800 new supportive housing units on the campus and 750 temporary housing units. His ruling also invalidated leases of VA property, including to UCLA and Brentwood School, and ordered the VA to increase its outreach staff. He subsequently backed off that number of temporary units, while issuing an emergency order to immediately build up to 200, including 32 on the parking lot of UCLA's Jackie Robinson baseball stadium.

Plaintiffs' attorney Mark Rosenbaum of the pro bono firm Public Counsel said he appreciated the accelerated schedule but not the government's position.

"The government's action in seeking a stay, claiming a lack of resources, makes a lie of their stated commitment to end veteran homelessness as rapidly as possible," Rosenbaum said.