Laguna Hills is expected to see 180 apartments built for senior housing after council members approved a housing project commonly referred to as a “builders’ remedy” because state law allows it to bypass local zoning rules.

Builder’s remedy is part of California’s Housing Accountability Act and allows developers to circumvent certain general plan and zoning limitations in cities if the project provides a certain number of affordable housing units.

That means cities can’t deny builder’s remedy projects just because they don’t think it’s a good fit for the community, or if they have issues with things like density or parking.

Denying a builder’s remedy project could open a city up to lawsuits from a number of parties, including affordable housing organizations and the California attorney

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