Sawtelle Neighborhood Association

Equitable Land Use for All

Sign My Petition!

Save Our CD 11 L.A. – Options 4 and 5!

Instructions: To support the petition, please fill in your first name, last name, and email. Hit the “SIGN NOW” button to have your signed petition sent to LA City decisionmakers! We request that you allow to remain filled in the “Opt In” to our email list since this issue is a lively one at City Council and we will most likely need updated petitions to keep pace with the City’s latest proposed changes. This is a defining moment for Sawtelle. We are in deep gratitude for your support.

Dear Councilwoman Park and LACC PLUM,

The Citywide Housing Incentives Program (CHIP) protects every single unit R1 lot at the expense of duplex R2 and RD lots. Because the Sawtelle Historic Core is only one of two area zoned for duplexes on the Westside,  extraordinary market pressure will come to bear on us and intensify displacement.

The Sawtelle Historic Core is a jewel, both to its immediate residents, surrounding communities (such as ourselves), and even to those abroad, as tourists from all over the world make it a destination. Here, CHIP would have a devastatingly disproportionate impact as even Sawtelle Boulevard itself would be affected.

Yet, Sawtelle Boulevard is NOT just another street. It is the lifeblood of the community. It keeps alive the cultural heritage of the area. It is the heart and soul of a long-standing minority small business community. It is the duty of all of us to preserve it.

While we are glad that the City has put forth a specific Option 5 that is FOR Sawtelle, we NEED YOU, our elected officials, to ACT ON IT!

Adopting these options would allow for a politically viable path to preserve and save the Sawtelle Historic Core.

CHIP Option 5 would exempt R2s and RDs lots saving the Sawtelle Historic Core! However, the result would reduce the overall proportion of new homes in high opportunity areas. In order for LA City Council to provide for this protection without jeopardizing the work done in favor of equitable affordable housing, an offset is required to compensate.

CHIP Option 4 would incentivize multifamily homes on single unit lots located on transportation corridors. These two Options together would provide more equal protection for ALL interior neighborhoods, both single and duplex unit lots, result in more consistency along larger corridors, and maintain the proportion of the planned-for increase in homes in higher resource areas.

We urge you to ADOPT CHIP with Options 4 and 5. Although these Options have virtually no net impact on the housing goals of the City, they would preserve the history of the only designated ethnic community on the Westside.  Prevent an all or nothing plan by advocating for a more balanced and equitable approach to house L.A.  while preserving the multicultural history of a city as diverse and unique as ours. Adopt Options 4 and 5 and make them the law in Los Angeles!

Additionally, Options 6 and 7 incentivize cooperatives and share equity development that would maintain multi-generational, property-owning families in place and allow for the increase in affordable homes, while providing rent-to-own pathways for lower to moderate income families. Although these options represent the antithesis of for-profit development that produces housing through gentrification, LA City Planning has marginalized and declared these obsolete in favor of preserving every single unit lot, even those contrary to consistent urban planning. We urge you to send these share equity Options 6 and 7 back to LA City Planning for the same level of feasibility analysis provided to all other options. Do not let these once in a generation opportunity to provide truly affordable homes for hard-working Angelenos to be pushed into invisibility.

I urge you to prevent an extremely inequitable CHIP and put forth a plan that complies with sensible urban planning principles: incentivize multifamily homes on R1s on corridors with cooperative and shared equity programs. Please support zoning justice for all of Los Angeles!

Sincerely,


Save OUR CD 11 LA Yes on Options 4 & 5!

_

Dear Councilwoman Park and LACC PLUM,

The Citywide Housing Incentives Program (CHIP) protects every single unit R1 lot at the expense of duplex R2 and RD lots. Because the Sawtelle Historic Core is only one of two area zoned for duplexes on the Westside,  extraordinary market pressure will come to bear on us and intensify displacement.

The Sawtelle Historic Core is a jewel, both to its immediate residents, surrounding communities (such as ourselves), and even to those abroad, as tourists from all over the world make it a destination. Here, CHIP would have a devastatingly disproportionate impact as even Sawtelle Boulevard itself would be affected.

Yet, Sawtelle Boulevard is NOT just another street. It is the lifeblood of the community. It keeps alive the cultural heritage of the area. It is the heart and soul of a long-standing minority small business community. It is the duty of all of us to preserve it.

While we are glad that the City has put forth a specific Option 5 that is FOR Sawtelle, we NEED YOU, our elected officials, to ACT ON IT!

Adopting these options would allow for a politically viable path to preserve and save the Sawtelle Historic Core.

CHIP Option 5 would exempt R2s and RDs lots saving the Sawtelle Historic Core! However, the result would reduce the overall proportion of new homes in high opportunity areas. In order for LA City Council to provide for this protection without jeopardizing the work done in favor of equitable affordable housing, an offset is required to compensate.

CHIP Option 4 would incentivize multifamily homes on single unit lots located on transportation corridors. These two Options together would provide more equal protection for ALL interior neighborhoods, both single and duplex unit lots, result in more consistency along larger corridors, and maintain the proportion of the planned-for increase in homes in higher resource areas.

We urge you to ADOPT CHIP with Options 4 and 5. Although these Options have virtually no net impact on the housing goals of the City, they would preserve the history of the only designated ethnic community on the Westside.  Prevent an all or nothing plan by advocating for a more balanced and equitable approach to house L.A.  while preserving the multicultural history of a city as diverse and unique as ours. Adopt Options 4 and 5 and make them the law in Los Angeles!

Additionally, Options 6 and 7 incentivize cooperatives and share equity development that would maintain multi-generational, property-owning families in place and allow for the increase in affordable homes, while providing rent-to-own pathways for lower to moderate income families. Although these options represent the antithesis of for-profit development that produces housing through gentrification, LA City Planning has marginalized and declared these obsolete in favor of preserving every single unit lot, even those contrary to consistent urban planning. We urge you to send these share equity Options 6 and 7 back to LA City Planning for the same level of feasibility analysis provided to all other options. Do not let these once in a generation opportunity to provide truly affordable homes for hard-working Angelenos to be pushed into invisibility.

I urge you to prevent an extremely inequitable CHIP and put forth a plan that complies with sensible urban planning principles: incentivize multifamily homes on R1s on corridors with cooperative and shared equity programs. Please support zoning justice for all of Los Angeles!

Sincerely,

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To learn more about the Citywide Housing Incentives Program, click here or directly on the City’s website here.

Below are the excerpts from the City’s report on Options 4 and 5.

Options 5 and 4