UN4LA News - October 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.
NINTH CIRCUIT OVERTURNS ORDER REQUIRING HOUSING FOR HOMELESS
In April of this year Judge David O. Carter issued a sweeping order mandating that the City and County of LA provide shelter for all homeless persons living on Skid Row by mid-October. But in September the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals overturned Carter’s order, saying that most of those who filed the original lawsuit had no standing. The Appeals Court also stated that Carter had ruled on claims that hadn’t been made and based his decision on evidence that hadn’t been presented.
While Judge Carter’s order had been criticized by many, there were also those who hoped it might push the City and County of LA to make greater efforts to address homelessness. Now it seems like we’re back to square one. According to the most recent Los Angeles Homeless Count, in 2020 there were 41,290 people experiencing homelessness in the City of LA, a 14.2% increase over the previous year, and 66,433 in LA County, a 12.7% increase over the previous year.
Appeals Court Strikes Down Sweeping Order to House L.A.’s Skid Row Homeless
L.A. PLANNING COMMITTEE OKAYS DEMO OF 17 R.S.O. UNITS FOR NEW PROJECT
The current tenants at 831 Westlake got some bad news in September. The City of LA’s Planning & Land Use Management (PLUM) Committee denied an appeal filed over a new residential project planned for the site. The City had asserted that the project didn’t need environmental review under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). But the appellant, Coalition for an Equitable Westlake/Macarthur Park, pointed out that CEQA required review if cumulative impacts would be significant. They submitted a list of 35 projects that had been proposed since 2016 that were within a one-mile radius of 831 Westlake. The Coalition argued that such a high concentration of new development would certainly have impacts on the community. Predictably, the PLUM Committee sided with the developer and passed the project along for approval by the full City Council.
In light of LA City Hall’s ongoing, catastrophic failure to address homelessness, it seems important to point out that the project proposed for 831 Westlake involves the demolition of 17 existing rent-stabilized units, while only offering 12 new affordable units. This may help to explain a disturbing statistic included in the press release announcing the publication of the 2020 Homeless Count:
“[A]n average of 207 people exit homelessness every day—while 227 people become homeless.”
Could this have something to do with projects like 831 Westlake?
PLUM Recommendations Re 831 S. Westlake
IS R.H.N.A. SUPPOSED TO PROVIDE NEEDED HOUSING FOR CITIZENS OR PROVIDE BIGGER PROFITS FOR DEVELOPERS?
The results from the latest Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA) have caused controversy across California. Many regions were assigned much higher allocations than they had been in the past, causing a number of cities to question the methodology used to calculate the numbers.
But what is RHNA actually supposed to do? According to CA Gov. Code 65584, the first objective of the regional housing needs allocation plan is:
Increasing the housing supply and the mix of housing types, tenure, and affordability in all cities and counties within the region in an equitable manner [….]
Its important to ask whether RHNA is actually accomplishing this objective, because the answer seems to be a resounding “no”. If we look at the City of LA's 2020 Housing Element Progress Report, it shows that the City has produced about three times the number of homes for Above Moderate Income households required by RHNA, while failing to come anywhere near the allocations for Moderate, Low Income and Very Low Income households. At the same time, a June 2020 report from the Housing & Community Investment Department shows that there are high vacancy rates in communities such as Koreatown, Hollywood and Venice. To put it bluntly, there are tens of thousands of vacant units in the City of LA, at the same time that over 40,000 people are living on the City’s streets.
The latest RHNA allocation says the City of LA needs to plan for 456,643 units. The Department of City Planning is exploring ways to accommodate this number, and the solution they’re likely to propose is lots of upzoning. But will the City be required to meet the RHNA targets for affordable housing? No. RHNA only requires that jurisdictions have enough zoned capacity to accommodate their allocation. In other words, developers will have more freedom to build large, market-rate projects, and the City will continue to beg them to include a small amount of affordable housing.
Many cities have questioned the recent changes to the methodology for calculating RHNA, including the City of LA. In October 2019, the Housing & Communing Investment Department, the Department of City Planning and the Chief Legislative Analyst submitted a report to the City Council outlining problems with the way RHNA is now calculated. They also estimate what it would actually cost to build the affordable housing allocation: $22.3 billion. It’s not an easy read, but it calls into question whether the State’s targets are even achievable. Is the State’s goal really to provide housing for all? Or is Sacramento more focussed on clearing the way for more real estate speculation?
Comments on the 6th Cycle Regional Housing Needs Assessment Methodology
THE CITY OF L.A.’S FUTURE: FEWER TREES, LESS OPEN SPACE
Trees and open space are both vitally important in urban areas. In addition to providing benefits like groundwater recharge and robust biodiversity, recent research has shown that green space is good for mental health and reduces crime. Unfortunately, real estate investors often fail to see the importance of these benefits to the community, choosing instead to focus on the money they’ll make when their project is built. Right now there are a number of projects across Los Angeles that threaten to remove trees and reduce open space.
Onteora Hill is a wildlife corridor in Eagle Rock that contains over 70 Coastal Live Oaks. It also plays a part in the history of the indigenous Kizh-Tongva/Tataviam people. Leap of Faith Partners, LLC, plans to build a project that includes 14 prefabricated modular units on Onteora Hill. Strong opposition from the surrounding community doesn’t seem to have deterred them, and they don’t even seem concerned about the fact that the site is located in a very high fire hazard severity zone.
Highland Park is a dense urban neighborhood that already has a relatively small amount of open space. Poppy Peak is a historic landmark and is also home to native plants and wildlife including bobcats, puma, hawks, and owls. But development group Poppy Peak 26, LLC, isn’t concerned about any of that. They’ve already begun building luxury homes on two parcels on the north slope, and research by members of the community has revealed that the developer owns a total of 26 parcels in the area.
Lying at the base of the Hollywood Hills, Ventura Blvd. is a miles-long commercial district that features a seemingly endless number of shops, bars, restaurants and boutiques. But, amazingly, there are a few short stretches that haven’t been developed yet, like the green hillside that rises above 12544 Ventura in Studio City. The site is home to 55 Southern California Black Walnut trees, 53 Toyon trees, and 4 Coast Live Oak trees. Austin Family Development, LLC, will be removing many of those trees in order to build a proposed mixed-use project which includes a strip mall. The project is opposed by the Hillside Federation.
WATTS HAPPENING CULTURAL CENTER GETS HISTORIC DESIGNATION
On September 29, the Watts Happening Cultural Center was designated as a Historic Cultural Monument by the LA City Council. The Center was originally home to the Mafundi Institute, a gathering place for Black artists, writers and musicians back in the 60s. While the Institute closed long ago, the site is still home to the Watts Coffee House and a charter high school. In approving the HCM designation, the City cited the building’s importance as “a community center for predominantly local Black artists, writers, musicians, filmmakers, and poets that played an important role in the community after the Watts uprising of 1965.”
The path to the historic designation wasn’t easy. Watts Happening stands on a piece of real estate that has caught the attention of developers. You can read more about the building’s past, and what the community envisions for its future, in this article from theLAnd.
