MyNewsLA: More than 7,000 Affordable Housing Units Awaiting Development

MyNewsLA

More than 7,000 units of affordable housing are in the city of Los Angeles’ development pipeline as a result of her first executive directive, aimed at accelerating and lowering the cost of affordable housing projects in the city, Mayor Karen Bass’ office announced Thursday.

Bass issued her first executive directive, also known as ED 1, in December with the intent of dramatically increasing the number of affordable housing projects and units in the city’s development pipeline.

Since the mayor issued ED 1, the Department of City Planning received proposals for 95 affordable housing projects and 38 project cases have been completed while 57 of them are currently under review.

The city planners received proposals for approximately 7,301 units of affordable housing, of which 2,990 were approved and 4,311 are currently under review, according to the mayor’s office.

ED 1 also streamlined and reduced the processing time for projects with complete paperwork from months to 47 days.

“We should be building as much affordable housing throughout the city as possible and (ED 1) is delivering real results,” Bass said in a statement. “The directive has doubled the number of approved affordable housing units in three months and is helping people come inside faster and remain housed for good.”

In an effort to codify provisions of ED 1, L.A. City Council members introduced a motion to make ED 1 a permanent city program in June. Council members introduced the motion to maintain provisions of the directive, which would have expired without Council action.

The motion instructed city staff to draft an ordinance within 90 days, codifying the provisions of ED 1 to the “fullest legal extent permissible.”

The Department of City Planning released a draft ordinance Thursday, which can be viewed at bit.ly/3rdpEb9. Planning department staff will conduct a public hearing on Oct. 11 to collect input from stakeholders.

It will then be slated for consideration by the Planning Commission, City Council and mayor later this year.

“I commend the City Council for acting with urgency on this program,” Bass said in a statement. “With locked arms, we can deliver more affordable housing to Angelenos who need it the most and keep moving L.A. forward with the determination to confront the homelessness crisis.”

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