"During her first week in office three years ago, Mayor Karen Bass issued a sweeping directive to speed up affordable housing applications. Now, that plan is permanent. The L.A. City Council unanimously voted Tuesday to adopt the Affordable Housing Streamlining Ordinance. Essentially, the ordinance takes Bass's housing initiative, known as Executive Directive 1, and incorporates it into the L.A. Municipal Code, so the streamlined process will stick around even after Bass leaves office."
"Under the ordinance, developers get fast-tracked city approval for projects that include 100% affordable housing. Reviews for such projects typically take six to nine months, but under the directive, they're required to be approved within 60 days. The expedited processing works by stripping away many of the discretionary review processes that typically bog down housing projects: City Council hearings, environmental reports, neighborhood outreach meetings, etc. As long as projects comply with certain criteria, including zoning and design review standards, they qualify for streamlined approval."
Los Angeles City Council unanimously adopted the Affordable Housing Streamlining Ordinance, codifying Executive Directive 1 into the municipal code to ensure permanence. The ordinance fast-tracks projects that are 100% affordable, requiring approvals within 60 days instead of the typical six to nine months. Expedited processing removes discretionary reviews such as City Council hearings, environmental reports, and neighborhood outreach when projects meet zoning and design criteria. In three years 490 projects were proposed, representing over 40,000 affordable units, but only 44 have started construction. Exemptions for single-family zones and rent-controlled buildings may limit impact in neighborhoods like Boyle Heights and Lincoln Heights.
Read at Los Angeles Times
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