A Housing Option That L.A. Should Incorporate

by Gary Toebben

California and Los Angeles are in the midst of a housing supply and affordability crisis that is threatening our economy and our quality of life. We are only building one new housing unit for every eight new residents. Last month, an analysis of data from the U.S. Census Bureau showed that millennials are leaving L.A. at one of the highest rates in the country. Over the last 10 years, the number of County residents between the ages of 18 and 35 decreased by 7.4 percent. The home of Hollywood, Silicon Beach, world-class universities and a revitalized downtown is losing some young wage earners because they can no longer afford to buy or rent a home in our city.

There is no silver bullet to solving this problem. It will take a mix of solutions from local and state governments to encourage the construction of more housing units, at both affordable and market rates. Second units, officially called accessory dwelling units (ADUs), or "granny flats," are a solution that has been identified by the State as an important option to increase our housing stock. According to Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf, Oakland liberalized their ADU policy and saw 1,000 new applications for construction. Other cities are following suit and the state legislature passed model legislation, SB 1069 (Wieckowski) during this past session. The Chamber featured SB 1069 as a priority in our 2016 ACCESS Sacramento agenda.

L.A. has struggled to take advantage of ADUs and lawsuits have left a number of units in limbo, or without a certificate of occupancy after being constructed. SB 1069 will go into effect on Jan. 1 and the City Planning Commission will take the first step this Thursday towards breaking this impasse. Planners have drafted an ADU policy for L.A. that sets rules for development that comply with the new state law. You can read more here.

The Chamber co-chaired the campaign to pass Measure HHH to fund the construction of permanent supportive housing for our most vulnerable. We are doubling down on our efforts to defeat the Neighborhood Integrity Initiative (now officially Measure S) in March, which would bring the majority of new residential construction to a grinding halt. Making it easier for property owners to construct an appropriately sized unit on their lots to house aging parents, adult children or rent out is another tool in our arsenal. We urge the City Council to implement a policy that works for L.A.

And that's The Business Perspective.