Litigation Increases Amid Rise in L.A. City Projects

Litigation is on the rise as the City of Los Angeles ramps up its infrastructure projects. In response to increased travel, events—including the upcoming Olympics—and economic growth, Los Angeles has been investing in infrastructure improvement projects, but with those projects has come an increase in litigation and from local community and environmental groups.

“There is a distinct growth trend of litigation challenges by environmental and community groups against infrastructure projects, often driven by concerns over construction and traffic impacts, as well as an increase in so-called environmental justice claims alleging disproportionate negative impact or at least inadequate positive impact on socioeconomically disadvantaged communities,” Shiraz Tangri of counsel at Meyers Nave, tells GlobeSt.com. “Ironically, we are also seeing project opponents address growth-inducing impacts.”

Projects in more affluent areas of Los Angeles are seeing the most community opposition to these new projects. “As we start to see new transit and other infrastructure projects moving into more affluent areas, these projects are facing greater levels of community opposition and skepticism about the value they bring,” says Tangri. “Key examples include the lawsuits filed against the Regional Connector subway in Downtown L.A.; against the Expo Line light rail project in West L.A., and the subway-to-the-sea line travelling through Beverly Hills.”

As a result, infrastructure improvement projects have been stalled, and Tangri says that these challenges are slowing down important improvement efforts. “These legal challenges can slow down and greatly increase the cost of important infrastructure projects, and sandbag their implementation for many years,” he says. “The region already suffers from a long history of deferred investment in transit, recreation and other infrastructure needs.  Legal challenges make new projects more expensive and more risky, and also deter the involvement of private sector partners who have been critical to launching public infrastructure projects in other parts of the U.S. and the world.”

The community opposition to infrastructure improvement could ultimately impact economic growth. “The worst-case scenario would be that the state of L.A.’s infrastructure reaches a breaking point where it can no longer attract or support economic expansion, which fortunately has not yet happened,” says Tangri. “At this point, new businesses and new residents are tolerating L.A.’s infrastructure, but public and private entities need to continue working together to improve the infrastructure for the future.”