Focus
Los Angeles City Council gives final approval to housing rezoning plan
Los Angeles Times – February 7
The Los Angeles City Council last Friday granted final approval to a sweeping rezoning plan that aims to boost housing development along commercial corridors and existing dense residential neighborhoods. In a 14-0 vote, council members approved the so-called Citywide Housing Incentive Program (CHIP). The new ordinance will provide developers incentives to build both market rate and affordable units. It represents Los Angeles’ main strategy to meet state housing goals that require the city to find land where an additional 255,000 homes can be built. Under the CHIP, developers will be able to exceed current limits on building if they include a certain percentage of affordable units in their new development and the property is near public transit. Projects that are 100% affordable will be eligible for incentives across a wider swath of the city.
News
More than 2 million acres of local land in California designated high or very high fire danger areas
Associated Press – February 11
Reflecting intensifying wildfires and updated science, new state maps designate more than 2.3 million acres of local land in California as facing “high” or “very high” danger of wildfires. In the wake of devastating fires in Los Angeles County, the Fire Marshal’s office is gradually releasing updated maps for local jurisdictions after Governor Gavin Newsom issued an executive order last week. The previous statewide maps were released from 2007 through 2011. These maps for Local Responsibility Areas would need to be reviewed and approved by the respective local jurisdictions.
S.F.’s dreams of office conversions have gone nowhere. Will these two changes spur the market?
San Francisco Chronicle – February 10
For more than three years San Francisco policy makers and politicians have introduced measure after measure, incentive after incentive, aimed at attracting developers and investors to convert empty downtown office buildings into housing. Yet, all the work has resulted in one project. But while it would be easy to be skeptical, developers say two more changes are in the works that will finally make it economically desirable to repurpose vacant workspaces into places where people can live. The first, introduced last year by Supervisor Matt Dorsey and former Mayor London Breed, would exempt office-to-housing conversions in the greater downtown from a group of fees that add about $70,000 per unit to project costs. On Monday, the Board of Supervisors’ Land Use and Transportation Committee approved the legislation, sending it to the full board for final adoption. The board will vote on the legislation in late February. The second is the creation of a “downtown revitalization and economic recovery financing district,” which would allow developers to borrow against future tax revenue to finance construction. That legislation, which will piggyback on a 2024 bill sponsored by Assembly member Phil Ting, will be introduced at the Board of Supervisors in the coming months.
San Diego just moved to preserve affordable housing. Here’s what it could do.
The San Diego Union-Tribune – February 3
San Diego took a key step Monday toward preventing thousands of rent-restricted apartments from being torn down by becoming the first local city to approve a preservation law for subsidized housing. City officials said the law, which the City Council approved unanimously, will help reduce homelessness by making it less likely low-income apartment complexes will be torn down and replaced by market-rate housing. The law forces the owners of most apartment buildings with subsidized units for low-income and moderate-income residents to notify the city and certain city-approved affordable housing entities and nonprofits if they decide to sell. Developers approved by the city will now get the right to make a first offer on a project, and, if the owner chooses a different buyer, a chance to outbid that buyer.
Proposed changes to Saratoga’s housing development policies lead to dissention
The Mercury News – February 4
In a split vote, Saratoga’s planning commission recommended that the city council approve new housing development policies that reduce opportunities for public input, drawing pushback from community members and planning commissioners alike. The 4-3 vote, among other things, approved a new process for the review of construction projects that are larger than 250 square feet. The new review process also applies to the addition or expansion of a second story and the addition of more than 50% of floor area to a building.
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