Los Angeles, CA – In a significant move aimed at tackling the city’s persistent housing crisis, the Los Angeles City Council has overwhelmingly approved a new measure designed to accelerate the construction of affordable housing projects. Passed on June 21, 2024, by a decisive 12-2 vote, Ordinance No. 188734 introduces a streamlined pathway for eligible developments, potentially cutting years off the approval process.
Championed by Councilmember Nithya Raman, the ordinance specifically targets projects that meet certain key criteria, allowing them to bypass the often lengthy and complex discretionary review processes. These reviews, particularly those conducted under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), have long been identified as significant bottlenecks in the housing production pipeline.
Addressing a Critical Shortage
Los Angeles faces one of the most severe housing shortages in the United States, driving up rents and home prices and displacing residents. City officials and housing advocates have increasingly pointed to regulatory hurdles as a major impediment to building the supply needed to meet demand. The standard approval process for multi-unit housing projects can involve multiple layers of review, including environmental impact studies, public hearings, and discretionary approvals based on various planning and zoning considerations. This process can add significant time and cost, making it difficult for developers, especially non-profit affordable housing providers, to bring projects to fruition efficiently.
Proponents of Ordinance No. 188734 argue that this streamlined approach is not merely a bureaucratic tweak but a critical intervention necessary to unlock stalled development and significantly boost the pace of construction for desperately needed affordable units. By allowing eligible projects to proceed through a ministerial, rather than discretionary, review, the city aims to shave off months, or even years, from the timeline from project conception to groundbreaking. This reduction in time is also expected to lead to lower construction costs, as developers spend less on holding costs, consultants, and navigating the protracted approval maze.
Eligibility and Requirements
The ordinance establishes clear criteria for projects seeking to utilize the streamlined pathway. To be eligible, developments must commit to including a minimum of 15% on-site affordable units. This requirement ensures that the expedited process directly benefits the creation of housing for lower-income residents.
Furthermore, projects must adhere to local labor standards. This provision is seen as a way to ensure that the acceleration of housing construction also supports well-compensated local jobs, addressing concerns about potential impacts on the workforce within the building trades. The inclusion of labor standards was a key element in building support for the measure.
By tying the streamlining to these specific, tangible benefits – affordability and labor protections – the ordinance seeks to differentiate itself from broader deregulation efforts and focus its impact on projects aligned with specific public policy goals.
Bypassing Discretionary Review, Including CEQA
A core component of Ordinance No. 188734 is its allowance for eligible projects to bypass discretionary review processes. In planning and development, a discretionary review allows decision-makers (like the City Council or Planning Commission) to exercise judgment and apply conditions or reject a project based on subjective interpretations of how it fits within community character, specific plans, or potential impacts.
CEQA, the California Environmental Quality Act, is a cornerstone environmental law requiring state and local agencies to identify the significant environmental impacts of their actions and to avoid or mitigate those impacts, if feasible. While crucial for environmental protection, the CEQA review process, particularly the preparation and potential litigation over Environmental Impact Reports (EIRs), is frequently cited as a major contributor to delays and costs in California development, including housing.
The ordinance leverages existing state laws and CEQA exemptions applicable to affordable housing to create a local mechanism that ensures eligible projects are processed more predictably and swiftly, without the potential for subjective delays inherent in discretionary processes or extensive environmental reviews when specific criteria are met.
Concerns Raised by Opponents
Despite the strong majority vote, the ordinance did face opposition. Opponents voiced concerns regarding the potential impacts of bypassing these traditional review processes, particularly on local neighborhood planning and the integrity of environmental review standards.
Critiques centered on the worry that removing discretionary review could limit community input and control over development within their areas. Local planning processes often involve public hearings and opportunities for residents to raise specific concerns about project design, scale, and potential neighborhood impacts. By reducing the avenues for discretionary decision-making, critics fear the ordinance could lead to developments that are less responsive to local context and community preferences.
Concerns were also raised about the implications for environmental oversight. While the ordinance relies on existing CEQA frameworks, opponents expressed apprehension that a streamlined process, even within legal environmental parameters, might diminish the thoroughness of review or the ability to identify and mitigate project-specific environmental concerns effectively.
Looking Ahead
The passage of Ordinance No. 188734 represents a significant policy shift in Los Angeles’s approach to housing development. It is a clear signal that the city is prioritizing speed and production for affordable units by recalibrating regulatory processes.
The effectiveness of the ordinance will ultimately be measured by its tangible impact on the volume and pace of affordable housing construction in the coming years. As the city grapples with an escalating affordability crisis, policymakers are under pressure to implement solutions that yield rapid results. This new ordinance is one such bold attempt to clear the path for the housing Los Angeles desperately needs, navigating the complex balance between accelerating development, preserving local input, and maintaining environmental safeguards.
