L.A. City Council passes ordinance to streamline affordable housing
This is read by an automated voice.Please report any issues or inconsistencies here.
During her first week in office three years ago, Mayor Karen Bass issued a sweeping directive to speed up affordable housing applications.Now, that plan is permanent.The L.A.
City Council unanimously voted Tuesday to adopt the Affordable Housing Streamlining Ordinance.Essentially, the ordinance takes Bass’ housing initiative, known as Executive Directive 1, and incorporates it into the L.A.
Municipal Code, so the streamlined process will stick around even after Bass leaves office.Under the ordinance, developers get fast-tracked city approval for projects that include 100% affordable housing.Reviews for such projects typically take six to nine months, but under the directive, they’re required to be approved within 60 days.The expedited processing works by stripping away many of the discretionary review processes that typically bog down housing projects: City Council hearings, environmental reports, neighborhood outreach meetings, etc.
As long as projects comply with certain criteria, including zoning and design review standards, they qualify for streamlined approval.Bass introduced the directive to make good on her campaign’s promise to address the city’s affordability and homelessness crises.It also serves as a response to housing developers who have long complained about the city’s complex permitting process, in which projects languish for weeks or months while navigating the red tape of reviews and inspections.Affordable housing applications have been pouring in under the directive.As of November, 490 projects have been streamlined, accounting for more than 40,000 affordable housing units, according to the Planning Department.
Of those, 437 projects have been approved, with an average application process of 22 days.It’s unclear how many of those projects are actually being built.At a December City Council meeting, Planning Department officials said that as of Ju...