Lincoln Place: Answers to Last Month’s Quiz on Tenant/Landlord Rights


By Sheila Bernard

In last month’s Beachhead, we had a little quiz. For those who didn’t do their homework, too bad. (It is much more brutal in my life right now than it is in my classroom.) For those who did, here are the answers:


1) Yes and No. Yes, a developer is required to comply with the conditions of approval placed on projects. But a developer can violate the conditions, and the City may or may not provide recourse, depending on the political will of the people involved.

2) The developer both is and is not required to meet ALL the conditions of approval of the project. If a developer fails to meet some of the conditions, rendering the conditions moot, the City may or not turn a blind eye and just approve a different project. Again it depends on the political will of the people concerned.

3) Yes and No. Yes, the developer can evict the tenants although the conditions of approval say he cannot do so. But then again, if the developer evicts the tenants, if the City actually imposes the penalties it is clearly entitled to impose, that is, not signing off on the developer’s demo permits or final map approval, then the developer may be forced to start all over and get a new EIR and a new entitlement. This may or may not be exactly what the developer wanted to do in the first place. And if you ask the tenants... Well, you will have a hard time asking the tenants at that point, because by that time the tenants will be gone, which is definitely something the developer wanted.

4) Whether the tenants are guilty of a Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation (SLAPP) by defending themselves in court against Ellis evictions remains to be seen. Hearings have not commenced. We are cautiously optimistic that there are judges out there who actually read documents and who actually rule according to what the law says, instead of ruling according to what they believe the law meant to say.

We are still here. We are still strong. We are still expecting you to do your homework. The question for this month:

How can we fix this very ambiguous situation relative to conditions of approval in our city, and how will doing so enhance community control of development? The answer to this question will be a big part of your grade. In fact, this question just might lead to a PhD (Practically Having Democracy).

Sheila Bernard is President of the Lincoln Place Tenants Association.

Posted: Sat - October 1, 2005 at 07:27 AM          

©