State mandated implementation deadline: Feb. 2025

Source: https://planning.lacity.gov/plans-policies/housing-element-rezoning-program#concept-explorer

Right now, the City of Los Angeles is undertaking a rezoning process that will have long-term and far-reaching impacts across the city for decades to come. The City Planning Department has produced four draft ordinances that make up this process. Herein is discussed the Citywide Housing Incentives Program (CHIP) Ordinance.

Why is this rezoning process happening?

The Housing Element Rezoning Program (which we will refer to as CHIP), has been undertaken as a necessary step to meet LA’s housing needs and fulfill our statewide obligations around housing.

A few specific factors are driving this rezoning: 

Every eight years, all California cities update their General Plan, as required by state law. The General Plan sets out goals for decisions related to land use, and contains a number of ‘Elements’ that address different topics (ex. Air quality, Conservation, Open space, etc.) In June 2022, our Los Angeles City Council adopted an updated version of the Housing Element as a component of the General Plan. 

For decades, it was common practice for California cities, including Los Angeles, to adopt insufficient Housing Elements, or to adopt sufficient Housing Elements without the intent of ever following them. Recent changes to the legal and legislative environment in California have made significantly hurt the viability of these strategies:

The implementation of the Housing Element must fulfill our Regional Housing Need Assessment and accommodate a shortfall of approximately 255,000 housing units, with ~60,000 of those allocated for lower income families. We are currently very, very far behind this goal.

Los Angeles must also maintain compliance with Affirmative Furthering Fair Housing, a federal law which requires local agencies to take deliberate action to alleviate and combat disparities from past patterns of segregation.

Both of these requirements have been strengthened by changes to state law. Now, failure to appropriately target and apply these targets will lead to the loss of significant funding, meaningful legal exposure, and potentially the loss of local control over planning and building decisions (through a process known as ‘Builder’s Remedy’).

In October of 2023, all single unit lots (i.e. “single family homes” or R1s) received a full exemption, regardless of whether their immediate area had transitioned away from that use. Because this residential category is by far the largest in the City, it required all other categories to absorb the entirety of the State mandated housing quota. While already built out apartment buildings will likely not be financially viable, smaller apartments such as duplexes and other lower density buildings, will bear the brunt of the market pressure to build more housing. This created a two-tier caste system whereby R1 neighborhoods enjoy complete and utter privileged protection, but all other residential neighborhoods are left to the upwards of 5 incentive programs.

More importantly, it also means that previously affordable mid-sized homes, will now be sold out for larger complexes at an “affordable rate” that is reset to the post-pandemic level. In other words, those who move out lose their original rate and will in all likelihood NOT be able to afford the new rents, even if they are “affordable.” The dislocation and displacement this will bring to the select few non-R1 neighborhoods will be profound.

Notes:

• R1s are EXEMPTED from all affordable housing incentives.
• Incentives are “by-right,” which equates to effective rezoning.
• The incentives include a “streamlining” ordinance which fast-tracks approvals
• Pausing the “streamlining” does not prevent the by-right incentives.
• Pausing the “by-right incentives” would also effectively prevent the streamlining.
• An Interim Control Ordinance pausing the incentives would prevent the densification from pre-empting the Community Plan Update to give this part of Sawtelle a chance
• Current ICO motion:  https://cityclerk.lacity.org/lacityclerkconnect/index.cfm?fa=ccfi.viewrecord&cfnumber=24-0750
• There are three main programs that would impact the area: Corridor Transition (CT), Opportunity Corridor (OC), and Transit Oriented Incentives (TOI) (these three are the Mixed Income Incentive Programs).
• A proposed Sawtelle ICO motion only protects buildings of 5 or more rent stabilized units from 100% affordable housing permits.

“Options” for Single Unit Lots

The City heard the cries of those outside of the privileged R1 neighborhoods and analyzed 7 different Options for City Council’s consideration.

Below are Options 4 and 5 which would save the smaller duplex neighborhoods along with the R1 neighborhoods and redirect that density to single unit lots on major corridors. These single unit lots are already poised to be surrounded by incentivized larger projects and would be severely harmed to remain as is. Moving the density to areas already surrounded by multifamily buildings such as this is bringing consistency to the major corridors.

Options 4 and 5:

Why is an “offset” necessary to save the interior low density residential minority neighborhoods? (AFFH AB 686)

Examples of the Impact of CHIP without Options on Low Density Minority Neighborhoods: The Sawtelle Case

Arterial Streets Classifications / Designations

(Blvd-1, Blvd-2, Ave-1, Ave-2, et al.)

https://apps.engineering.lacity.gov/techdocs/stdplans/s-400/S-470-1_20151021_150849.pdf

https://navigatela.lacity.org/navigatela

Los Angeles Vacancy Report: 6-7% as of 2020

As Los Angeles entertains the idea of placing a vacancy tax, also called an Empty Homes Penalty on the November 2020 ballot for voters, the City must consider the vacancy policies of other cities such as Vancouver, Oakland, and Washington, D.C. Each city has its own approach in responding to the needs of their respective vacancy rates which may serve as valuable models for Los Angeles to adopt the most advantageous elements for our City p.3

REPORT RELATIVE TO CITYWIDE EQUITABLE DISTRIBUTION OF AFFORDABLE HOUSING (CF 19-0416) March 21, 2021

Report Relative to the Methodology that would Ensure that Equity is at the Core of Future Land Use Considerations and Implementation of the Housing Element (CF 21-1230)

RHNA by Community Plan Area (see slide 10)

The full presentation is below…