Just over one year ago, new legislation freed the City of Los Angeles to move toward restoring the inclusionary housing provisions of the Central City West Specific Plan. Now, according to a motion introduced by 1st District Councilmember Gil Cedillo, that approach could be extended to other parts of the city.
The motion, which was seconded by Councilmembers Monica Rodriguez and Marqueece Harris-Dawson, calls for the City's Housing and Planning departments to report on "policy and programmatic strategies to promote the fair and equitable distribution of affordable housing on a Citywide basis."
Pointing to a recent Housing Department report which found that Council Districts 8, 9, and 14 have a lion's share of Los Angeles' existing and future permanent supportive housing units, Cedillo argues that "certain parts of the City should not be responsible for meeting the entire City's affordable housing goals." He notes that Council District 2, 3, 4, 11, and 15 all have opportunity sites for new permanent supportive housing or motel conversions, some of which are located in the city's higher-resource census tracts.
A similar argument was made last year by 9th District Councilmember Curren Price, who requested a report on the feasibility of providing additional subsidies to permanent supportive housing projects in "Opportunity Areas," as defined by the California Tax Credit Allocation Committee. As of December 2018, there had been no allocations to projects in high- and highest-resource areas, many of which are located on the Westside.
Price also cited the City of Los Angeles' 2018-2023 Assessment of Fair Housing Plan, which states that the high placement of homeless persons in South Los Angeles and the Eastside perpetuates segregation patterns based on race and income.
Cedillo, in making the case for increasing affordable housing production in other parts of the city, also argues in favor of making inclusionary housing - such as that which may soon be reinstated for City West - a citywide policy.
While the L.A. City Council has suddenly shown enthusiasm for local housing production measures, it remains steadfast in its opposition to efforts from state legislators. Earlier this week, the Coucnil voted unanimously to oppose SB 50, a bill from San Francisco Senator Scott Wiener which would preempt many local zoning restrictions to allow taller and denser housing in proximity to transit and major job centers. The City Council also voted last year to oppose SB 827, a similar bill also introduced by Wiener.
