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LA zoning commissioners recommend leaving single-family zones untouched
Redevelopment of Jordan Downs underway last year in Watts. L.A.'s City Council has looming deadline on zoning questions. Will they expand where multi-family units can be built?
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Topline:
L.A.'s planning commission, as expected, voted Thursday to recommend the City Council keep protections in place for single-family housing zones despite a state-mandate to plan for nearly 457,000 new homes by 2029.
The backstory: Planning department officials have outlined a blueprint that they say can get to that big number by offering incentives to developers to build in areas already zoned for multifamily units. Critics of this plan point out it leaves out the 72% of residential land in L.A. zoned for single-family homes.
Why it matters: Homeowner group are pleased. Renter advocates, homeless service providers and affordable housing developers are not.
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About the vote: It came after many hours of public comment and on the same day a county judge ruled that city officials had illegally blocked a 100% affordable housing apartment building in the Winnetka neighborhood. That project, a 7-story building with 360 units, initially was submitted for approval under Mayor Karen Bass' ED1 program to streamline approval of new affordable housing. Then city officials restricted fast-track approval in single-family zones.
We'll have more on what this means and why it matters on Friday.
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