WASHINGTON — The Department of Veterans Affairs is fighting a federal court order to open 100 shelter beds by January and develop another 750 apartment units by 2026 for homeless veterans in Los Angeles.
Citing budget constraints, the VA has an emergency motion before the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to delay the start of construction of a much larger project for addressing veteran homelessness in the Los Angeles metropolitan area.
The VA is seeking to block a lower court ruling requiring it to cancel lucrative commercial leases at a Los Angeles campus that it owns and fast track development of up to 1,800 units of permanent housing by 2030.
The VA stated in written arguments Friday that budget constraints prevent it from moving forward with the court-ordered master plan for the site’s development. The installation of 100 units of modular housing for $15 million was temporarily halted pending the appeals court decision.
The VA argued it will have to reduce veterans services in other ways to comply with the court order.
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