8 Years and $4 Million Later, Construction to Begin

An article from the San Jose Mercury News details very clearly why so many projects in California take so long to get built and why they often cost so much.

In this case, a former UC agricultural research facility in Santa Clara was deemed surplus in the late '90s and purchased by Bay Area builder SummerHill Homes in 2003.

But the neighbors didn't like the idea of the land being developed, so they eventually got an initiative on the ballot to block it. They lost. Then they filed suit under CEQA, the state's oft-abused environmental law, but lost that battle, too.

Here's how the paper's Julia Sudek put it.

In fact, the president of SummerHill Homes is more than fed up with the neighbors who caused the eight-year delay. While Robert Freed respects the neighbors' right to express their opinion and attempt "to see their issues properly addressed," their opposition has cost his company $4 million in fighting the referendum and paying for the lawsuit and other expenses.

The delay also has meant that funding sources have "dried up" for affordable housing and will further delay the city's efforts on that part of the project, he said.

"To be quite blunt, I think the opponents should be embarrassed by what they did," Freed said. "When a small group is able to do the kind of damage that they did, in my opinion, they ought to be ashamed of themselves."

It's fairly clear, however, that many NIMBYs and no-growthers have no shame. That's why real CEQA reform is needed in California. Not just for favored projects like a football stadium in downtown L.A., but up and down the state.

You can read the article here.