UN4LA News - June 2024
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.
COURT DISMISSES LAWSUIT CHALLENGING HOMELESS EMERGENCY DECLARATION
A lawsuit challenging LA Mayor Karen Bass' declaration of a homelessness emergency was dismissed by the court at the end of May. Petitioner Fix the City argued that emergency declarations were allowed only for unforeseen events such as earthquakes or fires, not to address chronic conditions such as homelessness. By declaring an emergency, the Mayor's Office assumed the power to award contracts, suspend competitive bidding, and commandeer property. Fix the City President Mike Eveloff says the group plans to appeal.
Judge Tosses Lawsuit Challenging Emergency Declaration on Homelessness
ED1 PROJECT DOCUMENTS MYSTERIOUSLY DISAPPEAR
Mayor Bass' Executive Directive 1 was controversial from the start, and continues to generate new controversies. ED1 ordered that applications for 100% affordable housing projects were exempt from discretionary review, meaning that there would be no public hearings and no environmental assessments. Now it's being reported that documents for ED1 projects which were previously available on LA City Planning's web site have disappeared. Communities fear that the removal of the documents is a deliberate effort to keep them in the dark.
Larchmont Village Residents Organize to Request Transparency on ED1 Projects
U.S. CONGRESS TO CONSIDER "YIMBY ACT"
Members of the US House of Representatives have introduced the Yes-in-My Backyard (YIMBY) Act. The legislation would allow the Federal government to withhold Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funding from cities unless they approve a series of land use "reforms". These include expanding by-right approvals of residential projects in areas zoned for multi-family housing; allowing duplexes, triplexes, or fourplexes in areas zoned primarily for single-family residential homes; reducing minimum lot size; and ensuring that historic preservation requirements and other land use policies or requirements are coordinated to encourage creation of housing in historic buildings and historic districts.
H.R.3507, Yes In My Backyard Act
CITY OF L.A. ETHICS REFORM PACKAGE APPROVED IN WEAKENED FORM
After years of scandals roiling LA City Hall, the LA City Council has approved an ethics reform package. Unfortunately, amendments submitted by a group of councilmembers appear to significantly weaken its impact. Interestingly, Councilmembers Paul Krekorian and Nithya Raman, who had worked to craft the original reform package, voted against the final version. California Common Cause explains why this was a missed opportunity for real change.
L.A. Ethics Reform Gutted, City Council Upholds Status-Quo
L.A. CITY COUNCIL ASSERTS JURISDICTION OVER PROTECTED TREE REMOVAL
Last month we reported on the controversy over the removal of protected trees by the owner of a property on Grand View Drive in the Hollywood Hills. The Bureau of Street Services responded by imposing a four-year moratorium on construction on the property, but the owner appealed, and the Board of Public Works reduced the penalty to a two-year moratorium. Tree advocates reached out to Councilmember Nithya Raman, who quickly submitted a motion to have the City Council assert jurisdiction in the matter. The Council voted unanimously to approve the motion. This doesn't settle the matter, as there is still no final resolution, but the fact that the Council chose to step in is a positive sign. It may be that the City of LA is finally getting serious about enforcing the Protected Tree Ordinance.
HABITAT FOR HUMANITY PLANS TO RENOVATE 710 FREEWAY HOMES
The protracted wrangling over the proposal for the 710 Freeway left scores of houses vacant for decades. Now that the freeway project is dead, various organizations and agencies are looking for ways to turn these houses into homes again. Habitat for Humanity is hoping to purchase 16 of the structures, rehabilitate them, and make them available to low-income households.
