Judge sticks with injunction against Costa Mesa Motor Inn redevelopment over city objections
A judge Thursday declined to rescind a preliminary injunction against a proposal to redevelop the Costa Mesa Motor Inn into luxury apartments, a ruling an attorney for the city called a “speed bump” but by no means the end of the road in the case.
Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Robert O’Brien determined that issues raised by the city of Costa Mesa and Motor Inn owner Miracle Mile Properties weren’t compelling enough for him to quash or adjust the injunction that he handed down last week.
The injunction calls for Costa Mesa to adopt and implement “a valid replacement housing and relocation assistance program” for people who live at the Motor Inn.
“I think the order is very clear,” O’Brien said during a brief hearing Thursday at the Stanley Mosk Courthouse in Los Angeles.
The injunction effectively prevents Miracle Mile from moving ahead with plans to develop 224 high-end apartments at 2277 Harbor Blvd., where the 236-room motel currently sits.
But nothing in the judge’s order bars Miracle Mile from continuing efforts to relocate tenants ahead of demolishing the motel.
O’Brien’s ruling cited state law, including Title 25 of the California Code of Regulations, part of which states, “A public entity shall not participate in or undertake a project that will displace individuals from their homes unless comparable replacement dwellings will be available within a reasonable period of time prior to displacement.”
The Costa Mesa City Council approved the redevelopment proposal in November.
Julian Burns, an attorney who represents the Kennedy Commission, an affordable-housing advocacy group based in Irvine that joined some residents of the Motor Inn in a lawsuit against the project, said Thursday that “today’s ruling only confirms that the injunction will continue to stand until the case is resolved or the city complies with the law.”
Allison Burns, an attorney representing the city, said, “We have a speed bump on our path.”
But, she added, “this is merely a preliminary ruling and we look forward to the trial on the merits” of the lawsuit.
“The new development will have to wait a short while while we get this matter resolved,” she said. “But in the interim, the property owner can continue to proceed as a landlord.”
Miracle Mile previously agreed to provide relocation assistance packages worth about $5,500 to long-term motel residents. The company also has set aside an additional $200,000 that nonprofits can use to assist tenants.
The language of the preliminary injunction was submitted to the court by the plaintiffs’ attorneys and signed by O’Brien last week.
Attorneys for the city and Miracle Mile said the plaintiffs’ counsel violated court rules by not giving them the proposed order before filing it or working with them to craft its wording.
At a June 10 hearing on the plaintiffs’ motion for a preliminary injunction, O’Brien ruled that the plaintiffs’ lawyers had to work with attorneys for the city and Miracle Mile to craft the language of the order and submit it to them before filing it with the court, according to court documents provided by Allison Burns.
“The city is disappointed that the Kennedy Commission and its lawyers chose to break the law and violate both the court’s June 10 order and the California Rules of Court by filing their proposed order directly with the court instead of lodging it with the city first for review,” Allison Burns said.
The language of the order itself, she added, “goes beyond existing California law in several respects that we will, of course, be arguing vigorously at the trial.”
Ellia Thompson, a lawyer who represents Miracle Mile, said in an interview earlier this week that the injunction “would be entirely new law.”
“This is not a public project; it is not a public program; there’s no partnership between the city and the private developer,” she said. “There is nothing that would trigger a relocation assistance program.”
But such arguments failed to sway O’Brien. The injunction states, in part, that the Kennedy Commission and motel residents are “likely to succeed on the merits of their claim under the California Relocation Assistance Act.”
“For years in California, those whose displacement is instigated by local government have been entitled to relocation assistance,” Julian Burns said.
The Motor Inn project falls into that category, she said.
“Costa Mesa solicited Miracle Mile’s proposal, shepherded it through the approval process and ultimately approved it,” she said. “The city’s involvement is well-documented.”
Aside from the Relocation Assistance Act claim, O’Brien previously determined that the plaintiffs are unlikely to prevail on other issues raised in their lawsuit, according to Allison Burns.
Among those is an assertion that the apartment plan violatesstate law because the city granted a density incentive for the project without requiring low-income units.
Also deemed unlikely to pass muster are allegations of discrimination and a claim that approvals for the project are inconsistent with Costa Mesa’s general plan, Allison Burns said.
That doesn’t mean those issues can’t be brought up in court.
“We will absolutely continue to pursue them,” Julian Burns said. “We’re only at the preliminary relief stage and the evidence is strong.”
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Luke Money, lucas.money@latimes.com
Twitter: @LukeMMoney
