Leaders of United Neighbors, a California coalition of neighborhood groups advocating for adding density to commercial corridors and preserving single-family and multi-family neighborhoods, are organizing residents to email City Council members urging them to support protections for existing rent-stabilized units and historic neighborhoods among other things. The grassroots action comes in advance of a “Codify ED 1” rally planned on June 26 at City Hall being organized by the Southern California Association of Non-Profit Housing and Abundant Housing.
“We feel the best use of everyone’s time is sending thousands of letters in support of guidelines members of the City’s Planning and Land Use Management (PLUM) Committee – Imelda Padilla, CD6; John Lee, CD11; Katy Yaroslavsky, CD5; and Heather Hutt, CD10 ” Maria Pavlou Kalban one of the founders of United Neighbors told the Buzz.
“We are also asking residents to let their city councilmember know they support codifying ED 1 with guidelines and that without guidelines we face continually seeing communities impacted negatively by these projects,” said Kalban. “City Councilmember Marqueese Harris-Dawson, chair of the PLUM committee for City Council and future Council President has slow-walked hearing ED 1 at his PLUM committee and we must send our concerns.”
United Neighbors has presented a draft of their guidelines to all council members or their staff and particularly to council members who sit on the PLUM committee. “These letters will strengthen our efforts to get these Guidelines added to the ED 1 Ordinance,” said Kalban.
Guidelines for ED1 Ordinance-Priority:
- Protect R 1, HPOZs and Historic Districts in their
entirety and rent-stabilized units (RSO). - Limit the number of waivers and off-menu incentives to
a total of 6; with only one of the six allowed to be an
environmental waiver. - Require rear 15’ setbacks to allow for trees to grow and
stormwater to be captured. - Ensure that substandard streets/ high-fire zones do not
qualify for ED 1 fast-track approval. - Require ED 1 projects meet minimum Tier 2 TOC
distance to transit qualifications. - Prevent post-development conversion of nonresidential
spaces to market rate units. (specific language to be
supplied by the Planning Dept
“We don’t think projects in high fire areas, or on substandard streets should be fast-tracked. We’d like to see all these projects in sensitive multi-family R-2 zones reviewed,” said Hancock Park resident Cindy Chvatal-Keane who is part of the leadership of United Neighbors. “Ideally, developers should be limited to the same number of waivers and incentives called for in state law, which is six, some of these projects are coming in with requests for as many as 12 waivers.”
One of the waivers often requested is reduced rear and side yard setbacks. United Neighbors would prefer to maintain 15-foot rear setbacks to allow for trees to be planted because nothing of any size can be planted if a five-foot setback is granted.
“The city has all these climate change objectives, including planting trees, we should make developers do better,” said Kalban.
United Neighbors is hoping a flood of letters from residents will reach city councilmembers before the June 26 rally.
