LA Mayor Promised To Fast-Track Affordable Housing. But Plans Near Single-Family Homes Have Stalled
LA Mayor Promised To Fast-Track Affordable Housing. But Plans Near Single-Family Homes Have Stalled LAist
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LISTEN: Bass Administration Stalling Major Projects
Bass said she would no longer tolerate such delays. She was there to sign Executive Directive One (ED1), an order for city staff to approve applications for 100% affordable housing developments within 60 days, and to issue building permits within five days.
“Affordable housing projects are only being built in certain locations and not others,” Bass said at the news conference. “This is at a time when we need housing all across Los Angeles.”
L.A. needs more affordable housing, fast
The minutiae behind the processing of applications for development projects may sound tedious, but the stakes are high for Angelenos increasingly struggling to pay their rent.
Between 2010 and 2019, as rents climbed, L.A. lost about 111,000 homes considered affordable to low-income families by government standards. At the same time, the city only built about 13,000 new affordable homes. Plus, affordable housing covenants that restricted rents on buildings constructed in the 1980s and 90s have been expiring, in some cases leading to mass evictions.
ED1 was designed to confront these problems by getting new affordable housing projects ready to break ground faster than any other time in L.A.’s recent history.
Bass’s directive has found success outside of single-family neighborhoods. L.A. planning officials told LAist the department has already approved applications for 59 projects representing more than 4,620 new affordable apartments.
But Rand said city officials should expand on that success by processing applications based on the rules in place when they were filed. By retroactively changing the rules, he said, L.A. could lose many desperately needed low-income homes.
“It could be the difference between deciding to do the project or not at all,” Rand said.
Some developers have withdrawn their applications, acknowledging that their projects no longer make financial sense without ED1 fast-tracking. Others may decide to re-file their applications, but this time including more expensive market-rate apartments.
California officials weigh in
State housing officials have sided with the developers. California Department of Housing and Community Development officials have sent letters urging the city to quote “apply the law consistently.”
Applicants who submitted paperwork “may proceed under the ED1 regulations that were in effect at the time the preliminary application was complete,” wrote Shannan West with the state’s Housing Accountability Unit in October.
A mayor’s office spokesperson told LAist in an email that ED1 has accelerated thousands of units of affordable housing.
“The city has seen an 85% increase in the number of affordable housing units proposed,” said Bass press secretary Clara Karger.
While not eligible for ED1, projects near single-family homes can still go through the normal approval process, Karger said. That process can involve years of environmental review and contentious public hearings with L.A.’s Planning Commission.
“The mayor believes that any policy implemented should be evaluated to ensure there are no unintended consequences on communities, especially the very ones we are trying to help,” Karger said.
The mayor’s office did not agree to requests to interview Bass directly.
The politics of building in single-family zones
If the city doesn’t reverse course, pro-housing activists say they’ll sue. Sonja Trauss with YIMBY Law, a group that takes legal action against cities it believes are flouting state housing law, told LAist that her organization plans to file a lawsuit soon.
“It’s not the right way for the city to treat people who are creating affordable housing,” Trauss said. “Hopefully the mayor gets the message that backpedaling wasn’t as politically necessary or beneficial as she thought.”
Most of L.A.’s residential land — 74% to be exact — is zoned for single-family homes. Building large apartment developments in those areas has long been seen as politically risky, because it tends to enrage homeowners opposed to neighborhood change.
UCLA urban planning professor Paavo Monkkonen said leaving suburban areas untouched brings its own risks. The city of L.A. has some big housing goals to meet under state law. The city must plan for 185,000 new low-income homes by 2029.
State law also requires the city to reverse long-standing patterns of segregation by putting many new affordable homes in wealthier areas, such as single-family neighborhoods.
“Once you take them off the table, it’s really hard to live up to the fair housing mandate,” Monkkonen said.
In Winnetka, an uncertain future for a shuttered school
Without a guaranteed path
SDGs, Targets, and Indicators
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SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities
- Target 11.1: By 2030, ensure access for all to adequate, safe and affordable housing and basic services and upgrade slums
- Indicator 11.1.1: Proportion of urban population living in slums, informal settlements or inadequate housing
- Indicator 11.1.2: Proportion of population that has convenient access to public transport, by sex, age and persons with disabilities
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SDG 1: No Poverty
- Target 1.4: By 2030, ensure that all men and women, in particular the poor and the vulnerable, have equal rights to economic resources, as well as access to basic services, ownership and control over land and other forms of property, inheritance, natural resources, appropriate new technology and financial services, including microfinance
- Indicator 1.4.2: Proportion of total adult population with secure tenure rights to land, with legally recognized documentation and who perceive their rights to land as secure, by sex and type of tenure
-
SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities
- Target 10.2: By 2030, empower and promote the social, economic and political inclusion of all, irrespective of age, sex, disability, race, ethnicity, origin, religion or economic or other status
- Indicator 10.2.1: Proportion of people living below 50 percent of median income, by sex, age and persons with disabilities
Table: SDGs, Targets, and Indicators
| SDGs | Targets | Indicators |
|---|---|---|
| SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities | Target 11.1: By 2030, ensure access for all to adequate, safe and affordable housing and basic services and upgrade slums | Indicator 11.1.1: Proportion of urban population living in slums, informal settlements or inadequate housing Indicator 11.1.2: Proportion of population that has convenient access to public transport, by sex, age and persons with disabilities |
| SDG 1: No Poverty | Target 1.4: By 2030, ensure that all men and women, in particular the poor and the vulnerable, have equal rights to economic resources, as well as access to basic services, ownership and control over land and other forms of property, inheritance, natural resources, appropriate new technology and financial services, including microfinance | Indicator 1.4.2: Proportion of total adult population with secure tenure rights to land, with legally recognized documentation and who perceive their rights to land as secure, by sex and type of tenure |
| SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities | Target 10.2: By 2030, empower and promote the social, economic and political inclusion of all, irrespective of age, sex, disability, race, ethnicity, origin, religion or economic or other status | Indicator 10.2.1: Proportion of people living below 50 percent of median income, by sex, age and persons with disabilities |
Analysis
-
Which SDGs are addressed or connected to the issues highlighted in the article?
The issues highlighted in the article are connected to SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities, SDG 1: No Poverty, and SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities.
-
What specific targets under those SDGs can be identified based on the article’s content?
Based on the article’s content, the specific targets that can be identified are:
- Target 11.1: By 2030, ensure access for all to adequate, safe and affordable housing and basic services and upgrade slums
- Target 1.4: By 2030, ensure that all men and women, in particular the poor and the vulnerable, have equal rights to economic resources, as well as access to basic services, ownership and control over land and other forms of property, inheritance, natural resources, appropriate new technology and financial services, including microfinance
- Target 10.2: By 2030, empower and promote the social, economic and political inclusion of all, irrespective of age, sex, disability, race, ethnicity, origin, religion or economic or other status
-
Are there any indicators mentioned or implied in the article that can be used to measure progress towards the identified targets?
Yes, there are indicators mentioned or implied in the article that can be used to measure progress towards the identified targets:
- Indicator 11.1.1: Proportion of urban population living in slums, informal settlements or inadequate housing
- Indicator 11.1.2: Proportion of population that has convenient access to public transport, by sex, age and persons with disabilities
- Indicator 1.4.2: Proportion of total adult population with secure tenure rights to land, with legally recognized documentation and who perceive their rights to land as secure, by sex and type of tenure
- Indicator 10.2.1: Proportion of people living below 50 percent of median income, by sex, age and persons with disabilities
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Source: laist.com
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