The Morning Report
Get the news and information you need to take on the day.
The City Council delayed its vote over a settlement of the condo conversion lawsuit until July 24 after claiming that some loose ends need to be tied up and in hopes that council members who were absent from Tuesday’s meeting will be in attendance at the future hearing.
After the council members tentatively approved the settlement in March, they were set to consider an ordinance capping the number of future condo conversions to 1,000 per year in order to stem the ongoing wave of legal challenges against the city.
The settlement would have also required the city to issue an annual report monitoring the effects of the conversion of apartments to condos on the city’s landscape. Also, the city would have to pay $76,000 to the activists who have challenged the development projects for the past eighteen months.
Activists from Citizens for Responsible Equitable Environmental Development sued the city in 2005, arguing the city should have studied the citywide impacts the influx of conversions had on the community’s water quality, traffic and pollution.
Only six council members were in attendance Tuesday. Councilman Ben Hueso was away at a Coastal Commission meeting. Councilman Brian Maienschein’s office said he was at a community event during the council meeting.