In Los Angeles, a half-finished Target Corp. retail project sits abandoned on Sunset Boulevard. A circuit court found the project's building permits to be illegal—because the project violated height restrictions—and construction was ordered stopped in November. Target has appealed the L.A. Superior Court decision and litigation is ongoing, says a company spokesman.
The site has become the latest victim in a host of lawsuits against Los Angeles projects that show "no regard" for city zoning ordinances or the rule of law, says David Lawrence Bell, a plaintiff's attorney in the suit against Target. According to Bell, Mayor Eric Garcetti "wanted precedents set, to encourage others to seek to exceed the height and density limits on Sunset Boulevard." The mayor supports high-rise developments and repeal of the city's height restrictions, saying current land use rules are suffocating it. Legal opponents say that in helping developers navigate the permitting process, he has disregarded height restrictions.