UN4LA News - April 2024
A monthly newsletter published by United Neighborhoods for Los Angeles.
UN4LA's mission is to bring communities together to plan for a sustainable future. Growth must be shaped by community engagement, not developer dollars.
L.A. CITY COUNCIL TO CONSIDER MAKING BASS' EXECUTIVE DIRECTIVE 1 PERMANENT
Determined to show that she was serious about creating affordable housing, one of Karen Bass' first acts as Mayor was to sign Executive Directive 1 (ED1), which offers a streamlined approval process for 100% affordable housing projects. Now the LA City Council is considering a motion to permanently codify ED1 as part of the LA Municipal Code. Unfortunately, there are a number of concerns about how ED1 is playing out. Some current ED1 projects involve the demolition of existing rent-stabilized housing. It also appears that the City wants to make all ED1 projects exempt from environmental review, no matter how large.
In addition to the original Council File, 23-0623, a second Council File, 23-0623-S1, has been created for this process, and this is where the Draft Ordinance can be found. (We have to ask why the City created a new Council File for the Draft Ordinance, instead of just posting it in the original Council File along with the motion requesting the preparation of the Ordinance? Are they trying to make things more difficult for us?)
Draft Ordinance from City Planning Commission, 11/28/23
RAY CHAN, FORMER DEPUTY MAYOR UNDER GARCETTI, FOUND GUILTY OF 12 FELONIES
After a brief deliberation, jurors found former LA Deputy Mayor Ray Chan guilty of all 12 felony crimes that he'd been charged with, including conspiracy to violate the RICO Act, bribery, honest services wire fraud, and making false statements to a Federal agency. During the trial, the prosecution presented evidence that Chan, among other things, had facilitated payoffs from developers to former LA City Councilmember José Huizar. US Attorney Martin Estrada stated that, “Chan used his leadership position in City Hall to favor corrupt individuals and companies willing to play dirty. [...] The residents of Los Angeles deserve much better."
THE NEIGHBORHOOD AROUND U.S.C. IS CHANGING. FAST.
A housing boom is rapidly transforming the communities around the University of Southern California (USC). New apartment buildings geared toward students are springing up on almost every block, but it seems little attention has been paid to the displacement of longtime African-American and Latino residents. The City of LA is handing out huge density bonusses to developers, but failing to observe laws created to regulate new development in the area. And a council motion filed to address the issue seems to have stalled.
How Student Housing around USC Is Transforming a Historic Black and Latino Neighborhood
MORE TROUBLE FOR McCOURT'S DODGER GONDOLA PROJECT
The LA Parks Alliance has filed a lawsuit to stop the proposed Los Angeles Aerial Rapid Transit (LA ART) project, AKA Frank McCourt's gondola to Dodger Stadium. The Alliance is primarily concerned with impacts to Los Angeles State Historic Park in Downtown LA. According to a press release published by the group, the Dodger Gondola would remove almost two acres of public land, destroy more than 250 trees, and cause significant adverse impacts to wildlife in the area. The lawsuit is asking the court to overturn the Environmental Impact Report for the project, which was approved by Metro in February.
Jon Christensen, a founding member of the LA Parks Alliance has stated, “The board’s action ignores the 20 years of community advocacy that went into building a park in a neighborhood in dire need of green space and recreational opportunities and essentially gifts the public’s land and air rights to a billionaire for an illegal commercial exploitation.”
LA Parks Alliance Will File Lawsuit to Invalidate the EIR for McCourt’s Gondola Project
EAST L.A. PLANNING COMMISSION UPHOLDS APPEAL OF BOYLE HEIGHTS PROJECT
A project that ignited strong community opposition in Boyle Heights has been halted. Developer Will Tiao had submitted an application for a mixed-use building at 2115-2125 East Cesar Chavez Avenue with 50 residential units, including 5 units set aside for Extremely Low-Income households. The project involved the demolition of two existing mixed-used structures that also house three rent-stabilized apartments. At the end of a five-hour meeting in March, the East LA Area Planning Commission went against the recommendation of City Planning staff and granted the appeal filed by Viva Padilla on behalf of Re/Arte Centro Literario, one of the tenants of the existing building. The appellant argued that the project didn't comply with the Boyle Heights Community Plan, that it was not exempt from review under the California Environmental Quality Act, and that the applicant had failed to comply with the Ellis Act in removing the three existing apartments from the market.
During the meeting, a number of area residents complained that the project was a symptom of rampant displacement and gentrification in the community. It remains to be seen whether the developer will contest the East LA APC's decision.
East LA Planning Commission Votes against Controversial Boyle Heights Housing Project
HOMELESSNESS: DOES ANYONE KNOW IF WE'RE MAKING PROGRESS?
On March 1, LAist ran a story on a report produced by the LA Homeless Services Authority which offered a damning view of the City of LA's anti-camping ordinance. The story suggested that the report had been suppressed. A week later, the LA Times responded with an article that questioned LAist's narrative, and offered a more complex look at the results of the anti-camping ordinance.
Are LA’s Anti-Camping Laws Failing? We Went to 25 Sites to Find the Truth
Also in March, LA City Controller Kenneth Mejia announced that his office would conduct an audit of Mayor Bass' flagship homelessness program, Inside Safe. Critics have been asking for more concrete data on the program's progress.
And to make things even more complicated, in March Judge David Carter stated that the City of LA had not lived up to the terms of a settlement it entered into to resolve a lawsuit over the homeless crisis. The City had agreed to provide 5,000 shelter beds and reduce encampments by specific deadlines. Plaintiff LA Alliance for Human Rights says the City has not lived up to its part of the bargain.
