The Warner Center 2035 Plan, adopted five years ago, provides a blueprint for growth in a former industrial district that city officials hope to transform into a "Downtown" for the San Fernando Valley.  With Los Angeles now in the throes of a housing shortage, 3rd District Councilmember Bob Blumenfield is looking at how to integrate inclusionary housing into the plan area.

In a motion introduced last week, Blumenfield calls upon the Planning Department and Housing and Community Investment Department to report on the feasibility and options for including affordability requirements in the Warner Center 2035 Plan.  He specifically requests provisions for moderate-income and workforce housing, and also wishes to see how any new incentives and requirements could work with the Affordable Housing Linkage Fee ordinance, which takes effect next month.

Blumenfield's motion has been referred to the City Council's Planning and Land Use Management Committee, where it must receive consideration prior to a vote by the full Council.

The Warner Center 2035 Plan has created a bright spot for new housing production in Los Angeles, bringing thousands of new apartments to the West Valley.  The preponderance of large development sites in the plan area has facilitated a number of large projects, and even proposals for village-like complexes with multiple high-rise towers and open space.

Blumenfield's call for inclusionary housing in Warner Center follows a similar bid by 1st District Councilmember Gil Cedillo's plan to reintroduce the policy in the City West neighborhood of Downtown.  The practice of mandating affordable housing in new developments had been made illegal across the state in 2009, after a landmark court decision involving the City of Los Angeles and developer Geoff Palmer, who successfully fought the inclusionary housing provisions of the City West specific plan.  This was rendered moot in January 2018 with the enaction of Assembly Bill 1505, a legislative response to the Palmer decision which allows cities and counties to reinstitute inclusionary housing requirements.

Cedillo has also requested a report from the Planning Department and City Attorney on whether AB 1505 would allow for inclusionary housing to be adopted citywide.