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Mixed-Income Returns
City Council Committee Considers Measure’s Future Next Week
by Anna Scott, Staff Writer
DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES – The centerpiece of Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s affordable housing plan has essentially been gutted by a Downtown developer’s lawsuit, according to a report slated to go before city officials next week.
On Wednesday, Feb. 3, the City Council’s Housing, Community and Economic Development and Planning and Land Use Management committees will hold a joint session to discuss Villaraigosa’s proposed Mixed-Income Ordinance.
A report from the Planning Department, signed by Planning Director Gail Goldberg and dated Feb. 3, but posted online today, lays out three options for replacing the MIO, which would have created a citywide affordable housing requirement: seeking a change in state law, creating new developer fees to fund affordable housing, or establishing an affordable housing quota only for for-sale projects.
The report comes after City West developer Geoff Palmer successfully sued the city to avoid having to include below-market rate units in his proposed Piero II apartment complex. The ruling, made final in the state Court of Appeal late last year, sets a legal precedent for developers statewide to challenge affordable housing mandates on rental buildings, experts have said. It also seriously hampers a $5 billion, five-year housing proposal Villaraigosa put forth in 2008.
The initiative is largely centered around the Mixed-Income Ordinance, which would require developers of large projects across the city to include a certain percentage of affordable residences in their developments, or pay the city to build the housing elsewhere.
But the Palmer ruling “eliminates the opportunity to develop a mixed income housing ordinance applicable to rental housing,” according to the Planning Department report.
The Council committees will discuss the issue at 8:30 a.m. at City Hall.
Contact Anna Scott at anna@downtownnews.com.
©Los Angeles Downtown News. Reprinting items retrieved from the archives are for personal use only. They may not be reproduced or retransmitted without permission of the Los Angeles Downtown News. If you would like to re-distribute anything from the Los Angeles Downtown News Archives, please call our permissions department at (213) 481-1448.
On Wednesday, Feb. 3, the City Council’s Housing, Community and Economic Development and Planning and Land Use Management committees will hold a joint session to discuss Villaraigosa’s proposed Mixed-Income Ordinance.
A report from the Planning Department, signed by Planning Director Gail Goldberg and dated Feb. 3, but posted online today, lays out three options for replacing the MIO, which would have created a citywide affordable housing requirement: seeking a change in state law, creating new developer fees to fund affordable housing, or establishing an affordable housing quota only for for-sale projects.
The report comes after City West developer Geoff Palmer successfully sued the city to avoid having to include below-market rate units in his proposed Piero II apartment complex. The ruling, made final in the state Court of Appeal late last year, sets a legal precedent for developers statewide to challenge affordable housing mandates on rental buildings, experts have said. It also seriously hampers a $5 billion, five-year housing proposal Villaraigosa put forth in 2008.
The initiative is largely centered around the Mixed-Income Ordinance, which would require developers of large projects across the city to include a certain percentage of affordable residences in their developments, or pay the city to build the housing elsewhere.
But the Palmer ruling “eliminates the opportunity to develop a mixed income housing ordinance applicable to rental housing,” according to the Planning Department report.
The Council committees will discuss the issue at 8:30 a.m. at City Hall.
Contact Anna Scott at anna@downtownnews.com.
©Los Angeles Downtown News. Reprinting items retrieved from the archives are for personal use only. They may not be reproduced or retransmitted without permission of the Los Angeles Downtown News. If you would like to re-distribute anything from the Los Angeles Downtown News Archives, please call our permissions department at (213) 481-1448.
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Reader Comments
The following are comments from the readers. In no way do they represent the view of ladowntownnews.com.
Josh wrote on Jan 31, 2010 8:54 PM:
" PLanning Department General Manager Gail Goldberg is at it again. Her report took 4 years, 400k in consultant money to get to council and is once again not well thought out. "
Bob J. wrote on Feb 2, 2010 7:48 AM:
" This is great news. As ruled by the court, the city has no right to force developers to rent below market price. It is a complete outrage that the city even attempted to do this. "
terry wrote on Feb 3, 2010 2:40 PM:
" free enterprise and the right of our democracy, sometimes the political arena attempts to control everyone, the poor don't have a voice, but yet surprise that friends of political arena have even won more of the piece of our city.
Well, I guess developers will not be looking at Boyle Heights for land or will they? "
Well, I guess developers will not be looking at Boyle Heights for land or will they? "
terry wrote on Feb 3, 2010 2:45 PM:
" one of our Candidates for CD 14, Dear Ruby from Eagle Rock, came to Boyle Heights during her campaign for City Council and informed us that rich people do not want to live with poor people, referring to Eagle Rock as the Beverly Hills of CD14, compare to Boyle Heights being the ? poor of CD14. She must be happy with this state ruling. She lost.... "
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