Neighborhood Councils Can Appeal Land Use Entitlements

The Los Angeles city attorney’s office determined this week the city’s municipal code may be changed to allow neighborhood councils to administratively appeal land use decisions. Appeals would apply to decisions such as tentative tract and parcel maps, specific plan exceptions, conditional use permits and variances. The councils would not have standing to sue the city if they disagree with the decisions ultimately reached, however. When council members Wendy Greuel and Jack Weiss filed a motion on April 24 to allow neighborhood councils to appeal such decisions, opponents argued that giving councils this authority would conflict with the city charter’s mission that the councils have an advisory role. In its finding, the city attorney’s office disagreed. “As appellants, neighborhood councils possess no decision-making authority on the substantive issue, but merely secure an additional opportunity for a city decision-maker to consider a neighborhood council’s position, recommendation and/or advice as to the land use matter at issue,” the office said. The issue is one of fairness and giving the neighborhood councils the same rights as other stakeholders in the city, said Jill Banks Barad, president of the Sherman Oaks Neighborhood Council and founder of the Valley Alliance of Neighborhood Councils. “The right to appeal will empower neighborhood councils and enable them to better represent their respective communities,” Barad said.