UN4LA News - February 2021
A monthly newsletter published by United Neighborhoods for Los Angeles.
UN4LA's mission is to bring communities together to plan for a sustainable future. Growth must be shaped by community engagement, not developer dollars.
L.A. CITY COUNCIL MOVES AGGRESSIVELY ON HOMELESS HOUSING
As the new year begins, LA City Councilmembers have brought forward a number of new motions to address homelessness. CD 14 Councilmember Kevin de León has prepared a package of nine motions as part of an initiative labelled A Way Home. Other Councilmembers, including Nury Martinez, Bob Blumenfield, Mike Bonin and Nithya Raman have also put forward motions to address this growing crisis. Below is a list, not necessarily comprehensive, of the actions that are currently being considered. Will 2021 be the year that the LA City Council finally takes meaningful steps to address the homeless crisis?
21-0032 Report on Status of HHH Funded Projects
21-0040 Hotels & Motels, Lease with Option to Purchase
21-0041 Standard Design Requirements for Temporary Shelters
21-0043 Evaluate Funding for HHH Projects in Pre-Development Phase
21-0052 25,000 New Homeless Housing Units by 2025
21-0054 Expedited Review for Permanent Supportive Housing Projects
21-0061 Standard Plans for Some Types of Housing
21-0062 Develop Standardized, Equitable Rent Registry Program
21-0063 Report on City-Owned Land Available for Homeless Housing
The nine motions above are all part of the A Way Home initiative. You can find more information on this initiative by clicking on the link below.
21-0046 Housing Acquisition Program Expansion
21-0060 Homeless Housing and Recovery Program
21-0113 Expand Project Roomkey
CITY OF L.A. MOVES TO GUT HOLLYWOOD REDEVELOPMENT PLAN
On Thursday, February 18, the City Planning Commission (CPC) will be holding a hearing on the Hollywood Community Plan Update. In the list of matters to be considered by the CPC, the hearing notice includes the following:
"Amendments to the Hollywood Redevelopment Plan to clarify its relationship to the forthcoming recommended Community Plan."
The hearing notice doesn't provide any more details on this action. But in reality, what's being considered is an ordinance that will gut the Hollywood Redevelopment Plan. Here's an excerpt:
“The purpose of this Ordinance is to ensure that from the effective date of this Ordinance, the Hollywood Redevelopment Plan shall not regulate or have any further force and effect over: (i) the use and development of land in the City, (ii) obligations of the City to prepare or make any report, survey, study or undertake any other planning effort, and (iii) any other land use related plan or function in the City.”
This is a major change that is legally questionable. There are bound to be fireworks at the hearing. To read the full ordinance, click on the link below.
Hollywood Redevelopment Plan Proposed Ordinance
City Planning Commission Hearing, Thursday, February 18, 2021
SOCAL CITIES LOSE APPEALS OF INFLATED RHNA ALLOCATIONS
Since 1969, the State of California has required that local governments plan to meet projected housing needs for their communities. The California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) calculates the Regional Housing Needs Assessment (RHNA) for the State’s various regions, and then regional planning agencies determine the housing allocations for each city.
Last year the RHNA allocations for many LA area cities jumped much higher than expected. Suddenly required to build thousands more housing units than they’d anticipated, a number of cities appealed their allocations to the Southern California Association of Governments. All appeals were denied.
But how did the State arrive at these higher RHNA numbers? According to a report from the Embarcadero Institute, the State’s math is all wrong. Here’s a quote….
“Use of an incorrect vacancy rate and double counting, inspired by SB-828, caused the state’s
Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) to exaggerate by more than
900,000 the units needed in SoCal, the Bay Area, and the Sacramento area.”
Click on the link to read the full report.
Double Counting in the Latest Housing Needs Assessment
L.A. RIVER MASTER PLAN RELEASED
After years of work, the LA River Master Plan was released in January. Meant to provide an overarching vision for the River's future, the Plan attempts to address a variety of issues, including water resources, land use, social justice and open space. This is a massive undertaking. The LA River begins in Canoga Park and runs about 50 miles, passing through a number of cities, before flowing into the ocean at Long Beach.
Predictably, the Plan has already sparked controversy. Proponents believe it represents a visionary attempt to revitalize the River and address inequities in low-income communities. But environmental and social justice groups have already come forward with criticisms, asserting that the Plan will cause ecological damage and foment real estate speculation. There will be plenty of debate in the years to come.
In the meantime, take a look for yourself. But be warned: It's huge.
It's important to remember that the LA River Master Plan is just one of many plans that have been prepared to reassess and reimagine the River. Dozens of communities and thousands of stakeholders have been involved in this process for years. Some projects are already being implemented. In this article, Heal the Bay offers a concise overview of the River's history, and talks about the many different ways people are working to heal the environment and help their communities.
Changes are Coming to the L.A. River
HARBOR COMMUNITY PLAN UPDATE
The City of LA has started the task of updating the community plans for the Harbor area. The process involves combining two community plan areas, Harbor Gateway and Wilmington-Harbor City, and the plans will be assessed in a single Environmental Impact Report. Among the objectives of the updated plans are:
Addressing the legacy of contamination
Preserving industrial districts
Maintain single- and multi-family residential neighborhoods
An overview of the process and a timeline are available on the Department of City Planning web site.
Harbor LA Community Plans Update
THE L.A. CITY ETHICS COMMISSION WANTS TO HEAR FROM YOU!
Back in 2018, the LA City Ethics Commission recommended that the City Council make a number of updates to the City’s lobbying laws. Unfortunately, the Council chose to ignore the recommendations. In the meantime, the Department of Justice initiated a sweeping investigation of corruption at City Hall which resulted in five guilty pleas and the indictment of a former Councilmember and the Mayor's former Planning Deputy.
Possibly because of the headlines generated by this scandal, the Ethics Commission has decided to try again, and they want your input. They've asked the public to review the recommendations and submit comments. One proposal in particular has drawn a lot of heat. The Commission suggests requiring lobbyists to disclose the title and division of each City official contacted, instead of the current practice of simply listing the agencies they've been in touch with. Not surprisingly, lobbyists are pushing back hard. Could there be a reason they don't want to reveal exactly who they're talking to?
To review the recommendations and to learn more about the process, visit the Ethics Commission’s Current Reviews page by clicking on the link below.
LA Ethics Commission, Current Reviews
Click on Lobbying Laws for a detailed explanation of the process.
You can send comments to the address below.
ethics.policy@lacity.org
