City Council mulls appeal of apartment site approval
It’s official: The fate of Lafayette’s proposed controversial 315-apartment complex will be decided by the City Council.
At Monday night’s council meeting, council member Cameron Burks called for the group to consider an appeal of the July 1 Planning Commission approval “out of full transparency, under city authority and as a sitting council member.”
City Manager Niroop Kasthuri Srivatsa said the council probably would review the apartment project in early August.
“I believe that this project and decision is of such profound importance to the city and people of Lafayette that it should be heard by the full, elected City Council,” Burks said.
The Lafayette Planning Commission approved the Terraces of Lafayette project July 1, but with misgivings by some commissioners who said they were concerned about possible traffic congestion and potential problems with emergency evacuations in the area of the 22-acre site at Pleasant Hill and Deer Hill roads.
However, commissioners said they couldn’t deny the project according to the guidelines laid out in the state’s Housing Accountability Act, which takes away much of the local decision-making powers by cities in affordable housing projects. The Terraces project has set aside 20% of its 315 apartments — 63 in total — for affordable housing, according to Bryan Wenter, attorney for developer O’Brien Homes.
A Lafayette city staff report cited the state’s Housing Accountability Act and urged approval of the Terraces. The staff report said that it is “very difficult and fraught with risk for local municipalities to exercise their typical, discretionary land use authority to deny such projects.”
In addition, under the new state housing laws, Lafayette could be liable for at least $15.75 million in expected legal costs if it denied the project and lost in court, according to Wenter.