Daily PUMA Column - Commentary by Alessandro Machi

Sunday, November 17, 2024

Gavin Newsom, Rob Bonta, and Democrat Socialists Party Los Angeles City Council Members seek to dismember Single Family Suburbs.

November 17, 2024

SUBMIT A WRITTEN COMMENT TODAY TO PRESERVE SINGLE FAMILY NEIGHBORHOODS!

The City Council's Planning and Land Use Committee (P LUM) will consider the ordinances designed to implement the Housing Element at its meeting Nov. 19, 1:00 pm at City Hall (in-person testimony only).

See item 2 -Council file 21-1230-S5. (There are additional agenda Items 3, 4, and 10) to be heard related to the Housing Element but the CHIP program is covered under Item 2 /Council File 21-1230-S5.)

We strongly encourage community members to submit written comments to the Council File for PLUM's Consideration.  

Support Draft #3 of the Housing Element CHIP program that preserves R1 communities, and OPPOSE Exhibit D options to upzone R1 neighborhoods.

There will be heavy lobbying by Abundant Housing supporters and related organizations to ELIMINATE single family neighborhoods citywide via the Housing Element.  

We must lobby the PLUM Committee and submit comments to support DRAFT VERSION # 3 of the Housing Element / CHIP Ordinance which preserves R1 SINGLE FAMILY ZONING -- without adoption of the Exhibit D options included in the Planning Dept. report.

The CHIP program (DRAFT VERSION 3) as approved by the City Planning Commission includes language that preserves R1 SINGLE FAMILY zoning. We support adoption of the City Planning Commission action taken which did not include Exhibit D options.

Exhibit D presents different OPTIONS to upzone R1 neighborhoods citywide at increasing levels of density. We request and suggest that Exhibit D NOT be considered for adoption by PLUM or the City Council. There are many reasons why it is inappropriate and bad public policy to upzone R1 properties via the Housing Element. (Detailed additional information is attached fyi.)  

Comments are to be submitted to the Council File 21-1230-S5. 

You may also wish to copy your comment and email it directly to the email of the PLUM Committee members:

Chair John Lee - councilmember.lee@lacity.org

CM Kevin DeLeon -councilmember.deleon@lacity.org

CM Heather Hutt-councilmember.hutt@lacity.org

CM Ismelda Padilla -councilmember.padilla@lacity.org 

CM Katy Yaroslavsky-councilmember.yaroslavsky@lacity.org _________________________________________________________

WHY YOUR VOICE AND WRITTEN INPUT IS CRITICALLY IMPORTANT - Hearing Tuesday

There has been a great deal of misleading information about zoning and efforts to link LA's housing and homelessness challenges to the existence of R1 neighborhoods. The public has been incorrectly led to believe that adequate housing fails to be built because of the amount of R1 zoned land in LA -- often quoted at 70+% of LA's land. Note that it is not 70+% of ALL land, it is 70+% of all RESIDENTIALLY zoned land.  

Most importantly, what that figure also fails to acknowledge is that a large portion of that R1 zoned land CANNOT be developed for more dense uses. It is the land in the high fire severity zones of the SM Mountains and other ranges and high fire severity zones throughout the City. It includes the land in the high tide zones at the coast and areas adjacent to sensitive biological resources. 

The City quietly acknowledges that 35% of R1 zoned land cannot be developed for higher uses -- which means that less than 45% of LA's developable residential land is zoned R1. That is a very different picture from a reference nearing 3/4 of all land as reported in the media. And, it is hoped that all agree that it is bad policy to seek to increase density where public safety is placed at risk.

The City has clearly demonstrated that it can meet and exceed the housing goals assigned to it by the State in the current Regional Housing needs Assessment (RHNA ) planning cycle withoutupzoning single family neighborhoods.

The City Planning Commission adopted the Planning Dept's recommendations to approve the Housing Element CHIP program draft #3 which preserves R1 neighborhoods without upzoning. However, Exhibit D remains in the PLUM packet and housing advocates continue to lobby for it and the upzoning of R1 areas.

If in the future, the City were to need to add new zoning capacity and desired to make zoning changes to R1 areas, that effort would be more appropriately done via the Community Planning process with transparency and public participation to identify the best places for such upzoning where infrastructure can best meet the needs of a growing population and negative impacts reduced or eliminated.

Blanket upzoning via the Housing Element would allow for developers and speculators to cherry pick any R1 property for multi-family construction without regard to adjacent homes, neighborhood integrity, infrastructure availability, etc. This would essentially permit developers to become our City's planners based upon their incentive to generate profit -- not to plan for sustainable, livable communities.  

The City cannot abandon its duty to plan for a livable Los Angeles for all Angelenos -- families, the young and old. Its responsibility is to oversee thriving, balanced communities -- not merely to incentivize the construction of housing units. 

ADDITIONAL INFO (perhaps more than one might ever want) is attached for your info.

WRITE NOW:

Submit your comment in support of the Housing Element CHIP Draft #3 that preserves R1 neighborhoods and prohibits the upzoning options presented in Exhibit D. Oppose Exhibit D. Support CHIP Draft # 3

Share this info with others.

PlanCheckNCLA | Los Angeles | Los Angeles, CA 90012 US

 

 

 

 

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