Statement: Pro-Housing Coalition Denounces City of Los Angeles' Illegal Delay of Affordable Housing Project. YIMBY Law Considers Legal Action

Contact: Jae Garner

The Inner City Law Center, Abundant Housing LA, Urban Environmentalists, YIMBY Action, and YIMBY Law denounce the City of Los Angeles’ decision to delay the application and review process for 360 affordable homes at 8217 N Winnetka Ave in Canoga Park today. The coalition aims to ensure these homes and similar projects are approved and streamlined as outlined in the original form of the Mayor’s Executive Directive 1 (ED1).

"We're disappointed in the outcome of today's hearing, but we find ourselves grateful again to Councilmember Nithya Raman for her consistency on housing and standing up for this affordable housing as she did when it was in her Council District last month," said Cynthia Clemons, Field Organizer for Abundant Housing LA.

“Quickly increasing the availability of affordable housing is essential to ending LA’s homelessness and housing crisis. ED1 does just that. But stopping 1,500 affordable homes—proposed without any public subsidies— is irresponsible when every public subsidy for affordable housing is oversubscribed,” said Mahdi Manji, Director of Public Policy at Inner City Law Center. “LA needs innovative ways to build affordable housing. Rejecting these projects is equivalent to rejecting nearly $750,000,000 dollars of public subsidies. We just can’t do that when our families need these affordable homes.”

“It’s the height of hypocrisy that our supposedly climate-conscious leaders have just declined to support affordable infill housing that is within walking distance to a school, groceries, and everything else residents would need to lead a low driving, low carbon lifestyle,” said Joanna Gubman, Executive Director of Urban Environmentalists and Environmental Director at YIMBY Action.

“The city has now said no to affordable housing worth over $750,000,000 that would have helped hundreds of people live in stable, affordable homes without the city having to spend a dime,” said Laura Foote, Executive Director of YIMBY Action. “The idea that the city would say no to low-cost housing at a time when Los Angeles is in dire need of affordable housing is absurd and offensive to the voters who put these leaders in office to address the housing crisis.”

ED1 created a path to streamline the Winnetka project as well as similar projects representing over 1,500 total affordable homes. Instead, the city is illegally forcing them to go through the same laborious and expensive process that has killed countless affordable housing projects in the past.

If these homes are not approved, not only will Los Angeles go without hundreds of much-needed affordable homes, this decision will also stymie similar efforts to build affordable housing in the future by creating unnecessary barriers and ambiguity in the application and review process.
“YIMBY Law is considering legal action, including a lawsuit at this point,” said Sonja Trauss, Executive Director at YIMBY Law. “We’ve spoken with them about the legal and moral implications of going back on their own policy. The city still broke the law, and now they have to be held accountable. Affordable housing can’t wait, especially in Los Angeles.”

Press Release: Pro-Housing Coalition Announces Action at LA Hearing, Urges Mayor's Office to Approve 100% Affordable Housing

Contact: Jae Garner

LOS ANGELES, CA — Los Angeles illegally delayed 1,500 affordable homes after walking back provisions in the Mayor’s Executive Directive 1 (ED1). YIMBY Action, YIMBY Law, Urban Environmentalists, Abundant Housing LA, and Inner City Law Center are rallying at the hearing for two of these housing projects on Tuesday, September 19th. Activists hope the city approves these homes and adjusts the directive to its original form to allow similar projects to be approved in the future.

“Quickly increasing the availability of affordable housing is essential to ending LA’s homelessness and housing crisis. ED1 does just that. But stopping 1,500 affordable homes—proposed without any public subsidies— is irresponsible when every public subsidy for affordable housing is oversubscribed,” said Mahdi Manji, Director of Public Policy at Inner City Law Center. “LA needs innovative ways to build affordable housing. Rejecting these projects is equivalent to rejecting nearly $750,000,000 dollars of public subsidies. We just can’t do that when our families need these affordable homes.”

On December 16th, 2022, Mayor Bass’s office announced the signing of ED1, to dramatically accelerate and lower the cost of building affordable housing. The directive significantly reduced the number of steps required during the approval process for new homes, making many affordable housing projects financially feasible to propose and build. Housing advocates praised this action, and developers have since proposed dozens of projects representing over 7,500 homes under the directive according to city staff.

However, the city revised provisions of ED1 on July 7th to exempt single-family-only zones as well as locations where the city’s General Plan differs from its zoning code. The California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) send the city a technical assistance letter on September 14th urging them “...to expeditiously process all ED1 projects in accordance with the rules and regulations that were in effect at the time the preliminary applications were complete.” 

In addition to blocking future projects in these places from using the streamlining from ED1, the city retroactively applied these new exemptions from ED1 to five projects proposed before the revisions were made. These five projects represent 1,500 affordable homes proposed in single-family-only zones, and other places where the city’s general plan allows more homes on the sites than the city’s zoning code. 

“In this housing crisis, every affordable home is important,” said Cynthia Clemons, Digital and Field Organizer for Abundant Housing LA. “In this case, 1,500 affordable homes are on the table, and we need them as fast as possible.”

Los Angeles is experiencing a severe housing shortage, especially for people with low incomes. According to the National Low Income Housing Coalition, the Los Angeles metro area has a shortage of over 627,000 affordable homes for people who make 50% of the area median income or less. City records demonstrate that Los Angeles is losing more affordable homes than it builds every year. From 2010 to 2019, the city lost over 111,000 affordable homes and only built 13,000 new ones.

Additionally, UC Berkeley researchers found that building more urban infill is among the most impactful climate actions local jurisdictions can take. Specifically, in the neighborhood of Sherman Oaks where one of the proposed projects is located, building urban infill is the number one most impactful local action they can take. These homes will reduce vehicular emissions by allowing more local workers to live nearby, and by increasing walkability for existing residents.

“We can’t say we are taking real climate action unless we start building infill housing that lets people drive less,” said Joanna Gubman, Environmental Director at YIMBY Action and Executive Director of Urban Environmentalists. “These projects are walking distance from groceries, schools, parks, and more – exactly what we need to stop habitat-destroying sprawl and avoid carbon emissions from cars and concrete.”

YIMBY Action, YIMBY Law, and its pro-housing partners will continue to advocate for Los Angeles to approve these homes and allow similar projects to be streamlined as well.

“By showing up to the hearing, we hope to convince the city to do the right thing and approve these homes,” said Sonja Trauss, Executive Director of YIMBY Law. “If they don’t, YIMBY Law is prepared to take legal action. Affordable housing can’t wait, especially in Los Angeles.”

Press Release: YIMBY Law Moves To Intervene in Manhattan Beach Lawsuit - Argues 79 New Homes Must Be Approved

Contact: Jae Garner

San Francisco, CA— YIMBY Law has moved to intervene in a lawsuit on behalf of the City of Manhattan Beach to ensure 79 homes are approved and the city’s housing plan is implemented. The intervention aims to strengthen the legitimacy of statewide housing elements, or housing plans, that local jurisdictions complete every eight years.

The lawsuit challenges the Highrose El Porto/Verandas Project, which is included in the city’s housing element as a pipeline project. Plaintiffs claim the project is subjected to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), despite its status as a pipeline project which by law exempts the project from this process.

“YIMBY Law is stepping in because the successful implementation of housing elements is crucial for ending California’s housing shortage and affordability crisis,” said Jae Garner, communications director at YIMBY Law. “What good is a housing plan if it’s not implemented?”

YIMBY Law cites the combination of a Manhattan Beach city ordinance and California state housing law as reasons the project must be approved. The city ordinance allows any project that uses a state density bonus to be built by-right, meaning it does not require discretionary review before it is approved. Under California law, by-right projects are exempt from CEQA. Because this project uses a density bonus, it must be allowed to be built by-right, YIMBY Law argues.

When the Manhattan Beach City Council attempted to block the project in October 2022, the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) notified the city that they were in violation of state housing law and that the homes must be approved. YIMBY Law, along with two allied pro-housing nonprofits, also sent the city a warning letter. Manhattan Beach then reversed course to allow the project to move forward. But the project is now stalled due to a February 21, 2023 lawsuit filed by “Chill the Build,” which aims to thwart the development. YIMBY Law and Californians for Homeownership requested consent to intervene on March 28th, 2023 and was not permitted to do so by Chill the Build. YIMBY Law has since formally moved to intervene. The intervention hearing will be held on Thursday, September 14th.

This intervention would mark YIMBY Law’s seventh lawsuit filed in 2023. YIMBY Law will continue to monitor city and county behavior to ensure housing element compliance and implementation across the state, with the support of over 600 volunteer watchdogs.

“Housing elements are plans, not dreams” said Sonja Trauss, executive director of YIMBY Law. “We’re here to make sure that Manhattan Beach and the rest of California doesn’t lose sight of these contracts between the state and local jurisdictions. They’re critical to overcoming our housing shortage.”