The Los Angeles City Council took the first step on Tuesday, April 30, to protect tenants in rent-controlled buildings from being harmed by a city rule aimed at increasing L.A.’s affordable housing stock but which, ironically, has put some low-income renters at risk of losing their own affordable housing.
The issue recently came to light when residents of a 17-unit rent-controlled property in Eagle Rock learned that they might lose their homes after a developer applied to the city to demolish the units to make way for a new, 153-unit affordable housing project. The developer is seeking to use a fast-tracked approval process under Mayor Karen Bass’ Executive Directive 1 (ED1).
Some residents at 4319 N. Toland Way worry they would be priced out of their neighborhood, including some who have lived there for decades, while others fear they’ll become homeless if evicted.
In response to the situation unfolding on Toland Way, the City Council voted 13-0 on Tuesday to instruct city staff to draft an “interim control ordinance” that would temporarily prohibit the city from approving 100% affordable housing projects on properties citywide that fall under L.A.’s Rent Stabilization Ordinance (RSO) and have five or more occupied units. RSO units are rent-controlled — limiting how much a landlord can raise the rent each year.
City Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez, who introduced the motion, said during Tuesday’s council meeting that she’s not against development. But, she said, it’s critical to prevent the loss of existing rent-stabilized apartments from L.A.’s housing market.
“You cannot build your way out of a housing crisis if you’re not building the right type of housing,” Hernandez said, adding that it’s important to provide “deeply affordable” housing for severely low-income tenants.
The interim control ordinance, if approved by the council, would remain in effect only until city officials adopt a permanent policy to protect tenants in rent-stabilized apartments from being harmed by other city efforts to increase L.A.’s affordable housing stock, like the mayor’s ED1 directive.
Bass issued ED1 when she first took office as a way to incentivize developers to build more affordable housing by cutting out a lot of the red tape they often encounter in getting projects approved.
But her streamlined process also got rid of a requirement that developers must hold hearings at which impacted residents and others in the public could give input. Her streamlined process also eliminated the opportunity for someone to appeal an approved project. In addition, the ED1 review process doesn’t give city officials much flexibility in deciding whether to approve or deny a project.
Last week, the mayor’s office issued a statement suggesting that Bass is open to considering changes to ED1 to protect residents in rent-controlled buildings.
The mayor’s spokesperson, Zach Seidl, reiterated those sentiments following Tuesday’s council vote.
“We are working to protect and support all Angelenos as more housing is built and we bring more Angelenos inside. As issues come up we will take action to address them,” he said.
Councilmember Monica Rodriguez said during the meeting that the situation with the Toland Way tenants in Eagle Rock reflects “how good intentions on policy can really be a detriment to many of our communities – the very same people that we’re trying to protect.”
“It’s not OK, and we have to be smarter policymakers and not just fall to whatever whim that people have in directives that are trying to accelerate the construction of housing,” Rodriguez said. She added that the production of housing shouldn’t come “at the expense of the very affordable housing that is keeping people housed.”
About a dozen Toland Way tenants attended the council meeting, with many describing the stress they’ve been under since learning that they might lose their homes.
Camille Lariosa said her father, who has congenital heart failure, is taking care of her mother, who is undergoing treatment for cancer, while she and her siblings work. Her parents frequently visit doctors nearby, and the local hospital, and being forced to move would disrupt their treatments, Lariosa said.
“While my parents are surviving, my siblings and I are stressed out to think about where we’re going to live. Nothing is affordable in Eagle Rock. We would be forced to leave our neighborhood that we have known our whole lives,” she said through tears.
According to the city’s planning department, the application for the Toland Way project remained on hold as of Tuesday afternoon due to missing information. But if the applicant provides the missing materials by May 18, city staff is required to process the application, the planning department said.
According to city records, Lou Jacobs, a partner with California Landmark Group, is listed as the project applicant, along with an entity called JFP Toland LLC.
Jacobs did not return messages last week about the project. On Tuesday, a reporter was referred to another representative of California Landmark Group who also did not return a message seeking comment.