That's not what's happening here. The actual party challenging this project is TODCO [1], a non-profit housing organization that actually hasn't built any housi

That's not what's happening here. The actual party challenging this project is TODCO [1], a non-profit housing organization that actually hasn't built any housing in the last 20 years and has spent its revenue in the form of appreciating property values in fighting new housing projects by challenging them on environmental issues. The Californian law in question that allows this challenge is a state (not city) law known as CEQA [2]. This issue is much more complicated than a mere issue of power delegation between states and cities. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tenants_and_Owners_Development_Corporation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tenants_and_Owners_Development... [2]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Environmental_Quality_Act https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Environmental_Quali...