JULY 16, 2025 – CEQA LAW
California Insider – How This New Rule Could Change Where You Live in California | Jim Righeimer
Assembly Bill 130 and Senate Bill 131 aim to speed up housing approvals by limiting CEQA in targeted areas. Former Costa Mesa Mayor Jim Righeimer explains how faster permitting could help ease delays, while also pointing to deeper pressures on infrastructure and housing costs that remain unresolved. He shares how these changes are showing up in local communities and where gaps in the broader response still exist.
CALENDAR NOTICES:
** UPCOMING * City Council Meeting | May 24, 2023, 6:30 PM - 11:00 PM @ City Hall | More Details
** VIEW VIDEO: MAY 10 – City Hall Session on video > click here
NEWS ARTICLES
CONEJO GUARDIAN | Huntington Beach’s Lawsuit Challenges Newsom’s Housing Mandates
Written by: Will Swaim is the President of the California Policy Center and cohost of National Review’s “Radio Free California Podcast.”
THE ACORN NEWSPAPTER | Community sounds off on new WLV rentals.
* This an article about the proposed project in The Acorn.
Shall We Allow Westlake Village To Fall Into The Same Situation As The San Fernando Valley?
The San Fernando Valley was a beautiful, simple town and now overcrowded due to high density building/living allowed by their city managers and city planners. Many WLV citizens moved here from the San Fernando Valley for the very same reason. They (we) worked hard & saved hard to do it. Let’s fight and fight hard to not allow this to happen to Westlake Village. | ** Bing Crosby sang an upbeat song about the “The San Fernando Valley” which today is overbuilt, over-populated and now choking due to high density building/living and bad city planning. > YouTube | Lyrics
Did You Know These “State Bonus Laws” Benefitting The Developers Of The Lindero Terrace Project Opens The Door For:
- 693 units (or more?).
- Only 70 units set aside for “low-income housing” which will still be rented for rates higher than most people can “afford”. YES — we DO want low-income/affordable housing, but NOT the other 623 units the developers want to add. It’s bloated and should not be an award or bonus for the developers.
- BOTH, yes TWO (2) buildings may not have height restrictions. Individual unit(s) ceiling height impacting overall height just like the Four Seasons. This is part of the “state’s housing density bonus law”. We may end up with large, oversized buildings up on a hill looming over the city. The bonus goes to the developer, not the city.
- Who is to say they won’t change the plans somewhere along the way?
- READ THE DETAILS OF THE PROJECT: LINDERO TERRACE PROJECT
Impact Due To Removing & Rebuilding.
Reduced Income For The City (Business Tax).
- Office buildings already on site will be torn down. More impact on local environment and the place where the debris will be “dumped”.
- Removing business/commercial buildings = less business tax income for the city of Westlake Village. The income goes into the developer’s pocket when they sell or rent, reducing income to the city.
NIMBY vs NIMC
- This is not about “not in my backyard” — this is about “not in my city or village.” We DO want affordable housing but done correctly and responsibly.
- 70 units (affordable housing needed) vs 693 rentals or up for sale units at market prices – is what this is all about.
- Our population stands at around 8,000 persons. These two buildings would easily increase our population by 2,000 – that is a 25% increase. The city is not equipped to handle all this in regard to traffic, water, electric (brown outs are now common), parking.
- We are a quaint bedroom community, a real “village” soon to be the San Fernando Valley if we don’t speak up, so . . . Speak up ~ Let’s save Westlake Village.
THE BOTTOM LINE:
Do you want Two Massive Buildings In The Middle Of Our Community. Do You Want Our City To Be Urbanized?
If you DO NOT want these buildings looming over the heart of our city, please come stand with us to “SAVE WESTLAKE VILLAGE” and let’s not “urbanize” our quaint “bedroom community, then please go to our “How Can I Help” page. | Wikipedia | URBAN AREA: An urban area, built-up area or urban agglomeration is a human settlement with a high population-density and an infrastructure of built environment. Urban areas originate through urbanization, and researchers categorize them as cities, towns, conurbations or suburbs. In urbanism, the term “urban area” contrasts to rural areas such as villages and hamlets; in urban sociology or urban anthropology it contrasts with natural environment.
What Can I Do?
- Please look over the plans and the size of the TWO buildings. They are beautiful but too large for our bedroom community: pdf
- Please attend any city hall or planning meetings made available to the public.
- Please succinctly and calmly call and/or write your city council with your concerns or your desire for them to block this project.
- Inform neighbors, especially busy moms and dads. Many people DO NOT even know about this project. It has been kept out of the limelight.
- Look for articles in our local paper, the Acorn (Blue). Or better yet, write a letter to the editor.
- Be aware that comments in opposition to our stance comes from most if not all persons who do not live here in our village/city. Their opinion has no weight or bearing if they are not impacted by the results.
- Know that developers will present “overbuilding” plans in hope that cities will then accept new plans that still include “overbuilding” but maybe not on the same scale. It will seem like a negotiated number, but it’s the plan all along to still stay on the higher end of the numbers and to fool city planners and citizens to think the “new number” is reasonable. Let’s stand our ground and say “no”.
- Check in with the city’s facebook now and then. You won’t hear about project like this in the 2-4 page newsletter they send out. facebook.com/wlv.org/
- Stay informed by joining our email list at: savewlv@gmail.com
- Inform US if you hear or know anything new about the project at: savewlv@gmail.com
- Comments? Want to volunteer? Fill out a “contact us” form
FOR MORE INFO ABOUT US, AND TO JOIN OUR EMAIL LIST — SEND US AN EMAIL AT- savewlv@gmail.com – or message to 818.808.9336
VISIT OUR CALENDAR/EVENTS PAGE > LINK
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