LANCissues.org - PPCC Inclusionary Zoning Letter

Here's one of our current issues:

Do Neighborhood Councils support Inclusionary Zoning?

Background:

Various Neighborhood and Community Councils have review the proposed City ordinance on Inclusionary Zoning.

Recently the Pacific Palisades Community Council took up the issue. Here's the letter regarding inclusionary zoning which was unanimously approved by its board:

PACIFIC PALISADES COMMUNITY COUNCIL

The Eyes, Ears, and Voice of the Pacific Palisades Community
Serving the residents and businesses of Pacific Palisades since 1973
Post Office Box 1131, Pacific Palisades, California 90272

October 28, 2004

Los Angeles City Council
Office of the City Clerk

Attention: Barbara Greaves, Legislative Assistant
City Hall
200 N. Spring Street, Room 395
Los Angeles, CA 90012

Re: Council File #04-0637: Proposed Inclusionary Zoning Ordinance (IZO)

To the Honorable Members of the Los Angeles City Council:

I am writing on behalf of the Pacific Palisades Community Council (PPCC) whose Board unanimously approved this letter at its regularly scheduled meeting of October 28, 2004. We recognize that there is a shortage of housing for all income levels in Los Angeles. We commend the spirit of the referenced proposal to develop a citywide strategy to increase affordable housing. However, we recommend modifying the approach as discussed below.

Rather than creating a new zoning overlay with complex criteria and incentives that repudiate the existing planning framework and procedures, let's fund a top to bottom review and revise the existing general plan, specific plans and zoning to preserve and enhance the quality of life in our neighborhoods. We need long-term solutions not a quick fix that may cause more problems than it solves.

Let's acknowledge the obvious; we need more density to house our growing population. To achieve higher density we need to identify first where this density is most appropriate. Wherever this occurs the impact will be felt in the local neighborhood, surrounding neighborhoods and cumulatively, citywide. With ZIMA, we can easily review and identify the targeted localities systematically, with full public disclosure, and, full public input.

Let's approach the search for a solution to affordable housing as an opportunity to embrace overall strategies that will make Los Angeles a more livable city. To do this the process of identifying where higher density is most suitable must proceed simultaneously with identifying where we will create more open space (public accommodations and parks), transit corridors (citywide plan), and additional infrastructure (public transportation, sewers, water & power, etc.). This may lead to changing the general plan and the zoning classification for each and every parcel in the city to reflect these determinations.

Any successful citywide initiative should be shaped by input from community councils, neighborhood councils and citizens at large. We have a tremendously talented and engaged citizenry whose energy should direct the outcome that will make us all proud to be Los Angelinos. Let's start the process by funding what we need first: planning.

As part of this process we need to identify other key criteria: who benefits from any subsidization of affordable housing, e.g., police officers, fire fighters, nurses, teachers, or others to be identified, and the best form of any subsidization for implementing an affordable housing plan, e.g., purchase financing, equity participation, tiered pricing, rental programs, etc.

We must be specific and we should act promptly to capture the energy and creativity already generated by this proposal. In this regard, we wish to join in the thoughtful recommendations of the Greater Griffith Park Neighborhood Council (September 22, 2004). The work we do will result in a color-coded map that we all can access and use to plan our future. The process of drawing the new maps, eligibility and methods of subsidization, will undoubtedly be messy and hotly debated. That's democracy. What we need from our elected officials and government employees is the leadership to shape the public input into a coherent plan that wins the public confidence and public trust.

Sincerely,

Norman Kulla, Chair
nkulla@aol.com
.