LA City Council approves plan to allow small- to mid-sized apartment buildings near transit stops

The Los Angeles City Council on Tuesday approved a plan that would allow mid-sized apartment buildings of up to four stories near train lines in certain areas zoned for single-family homes.

The move is a delay tactic meant to help the city put off full implementation of a state law that would allow much larger apartment buildings — some of them up to nine stories tall. The law, known as Senate Bill 79, is expected to take effect July 1.

Since before it was signed into law last year, SB 79 has drawn opposition from several members of the council, as well as L.A. Mayor Karen Bass, in keeping with a long-standing preference among many city leaders to leave untouched the three-quarters of L.A.’s residential land zoned for single-family homes.

On Tuesday, the council voted 13 to 0 (two council members were not present) to move forward with a plan that would encourage development of four- to 16-unit residential buildings in 55 areas of the city within a half-mile of transit stops.

The most affected areas include Central L.A., West L.A., the Eastside and parts of the San Fernando Valley, according to city officials.

Councilmember Bob Blumenfield, chair of the council’s Planning and Land Use Management Committee, described SB 79 as a “sledgehammer,” even though he said its goals — providing more housing options and reducing residents’ reliance on cars — were legitimate.

He said the option approved Tuesday is an alternative that focuses on local needs.

“Really, we want to see those alternatives, those thoughtful alternatives put in place as soon as we can,” he added. “Because ultimately that’s the way that we can meet the goals of SB 79 but do so in a less sledgehammer-y, less ham-handed way.”

How we got here

A provision in SB 79 allows cities to delay the law’s broadest effects until 2030, as long as those cities agree to allow more housing development in certain neighborhoods in the interim.

Last month, the city’s Planning Department produced a report containing three options (each with several sub-options) for consideration.

Blumenfield and Councilmember Katy Yaroslavsky came up with a version of one of those options, which the council approved.

Yaroslavsky said SB 79 has flaws that have yet to be worked out, but the option considered Tuesday would allow construction of low-density apartments in single-family neighborhoods “for the first time in decades and some for the very first time ever.”

“We need more housing,” Yaroslavsky said. “What we decide today will shape what actually gets built across the city if we do it right.”

Other options would have reduced the number of affected areas or allowed taller builds.

Next steps

Yaroslavsky said the plan the City Council adopted Tuesday expands the Corridor Transition Program — a provision of the Citywide Housing Incentive Program — launched a little more than a year ago.

Although the program provides incentives for developers to build small, multi-family housing along transit corridors, no applications were submitted within its first year.

“Not because there’s no demand for this type of housing, but because the math doesn’t work,” Yaroslavsky said.

The new plan fixes some of the program’s problems, but not all of them, she said. For example, the Corridor Transition Program could be changed to increase allowable floor areas and update rules for three- and four-bedroom apartments, which are hard to find in L.A.

“If we expand this program today without fixing it, we’ll get additional zoning on paper and not necessarily housing in reality,” Yaroslavsky said.

She introduced a motion that she said focuses on making sure the homes “actually get built.” The motion was sent to the city’s Planning and Land Use Management Committee.