Brief

The City Attorney is managing litigation brought by the Federation of Hillside Canyon Associations and State Alliance for Firesafe Road Regulations against the City and Josephson Investments over fire-safety road regulations tied to a real estate development. The lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court in 2025, questions the City's approval or handling of road-safety conditions. The case is currently under review in the Planning and Land Use Management Committee, with the most recent activity a closed-session committee hearing in May 2026.

Full summary

This file documents a legal matter initiated by the City Attorney's office in response to a lawsuit served on the City on December 30, 2025. The plaintiffs — the Federation of Hillside Canyon Associations, Inc. and the State Alliance for Firesafe Road Regulations — allege that the City has failed to implement State Minimum Fire Safe Regulations found in California Code of Regulations Title 14, sections 1270-1276. The suit names Josephson Investments, Inc. as a real party-in-interest, the developer behind a single-family residence project at 10453 Sandal Lane in the Bel Air-Beverly Crest area of Council District 5. The lawsuit's scope is broad. Plaintiffs identify 76 separate projects across the city that they allege do not comply with the state fire-safe road regulations, and they specifically seek to invalidate building permits issued for the Josephson Investments project on Sandal Lane, arguing those permits were issued in violation of the regulations. The fire-safe road regulations at issue govern road design and access standards intended to allow emergency vehicle entry and resident evacuation in fire-prone hillside terrain. City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto, through Chief Assistant City Attorney John W. Heath, referred the matter to the Planning and Land Use Management Committee on March 31, 2026, requesting that the Council convene a closed session under California Government Code Section 54956.9(d)(1) to receive legal advice on the pending litigation. The committee scheduled and held that closed session on May 12, 2026. No public vote or resolution has been recorded as of that date. The file remains open and pending in committee, with an expiration date of May 2028. Given the lawsuit's citywide scope — touching 76 projects — the outcome could have significant implications for how Los Angeles enforces fire-safe road standards in hillside development approvals going forward.

Activity (4)

• 2026-05-12 Planning and Land Use Management Committee considered this item in closed session.
• 2026-05-08 Planning and Land Use Management Committee scheduled item for committee meeting on May 12, 2026.
• 2026-03-31 City Attorney document(s) referred to Planning and Land Use Management Committee.
• 2026-03-31 Document submitted by City Attorney, dated March 27, 2026.

Documents (2)

• 2026-05-12 Speaker Card(s) · speaker_card
• 2026-03-27 Report from City Attorney · report