David Wagner reports on housing for LAist.
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We’ll explain L.A.’s housing challenges and what you can do to make things better.Los Angeles is now one step closer to letting developers choose how many parking spots to include in their new housing projects, including the option to provide no parking at all. On Tuesday, the City Council’s Planning and Land Use committee voted 3-1 to advance a proposal that — if passed by the full council — would explore a policy to The vote represents a major shift in car-centric L.A., where policy-makers have long treated guaranteed parking as sacrosanct. Committee chair Bob Blumenfield, who introduced the motion with Councilmember Nithya Raman, said the goal was not to entirely eliminate parking in new projects.Blumenfield said his district is “relatively car-dependent,” and he “would expect developers of market-rate housing and commercial projects to provide plenty of parking because that’s what they have to do in order to be financially successful.” Councilmember John Lee voted against the proposal, saying he believes developers would jump at the opportunity to build zero-parking projects in his northwest San Fernando Valley district.Housing and HomelessnessOther cities — including San Jose, Culver City and Austin, Texas — already have nixed parking minimums in new housing projects. Advocates for the change say forcing developers to bundle parking with every new apartment drives up development costs and increases rents, even for tenants who don’t drive. Currently, L.A. generally requires at least one parking spot for every one-bedroom apartment and more spots for larger apartments. But underScott Epstein, policy director with Abundant Housing L.A., said giving developers more flexibility would help the city boost housing production.“What we want to prevent is projects from not happening at all because they're not feasible,” Epstein said. “What we don't want is a project in the Valley that maybe by code requires 26 parking spots but where we can only build 24 parking spots on two decks, or there's going to be no project at all. That doesn't help anybody.” In a city where parking is a perennial frustration for many residents, some community groups already have started to voice strong opposition.to the council saying that competition for parking among residents already is so fierce that “people keep their trash bins in front of their homes all week to secure a parking spot.” The statement goes on to say the city’s public transportation system is insufficient, and “the lack of parking creates a lot of tension between neighbors and those from the apartments who need a place to park.”Lyle Menendez has been denied parole just like his brother Erik. Here's where things stand The council’s proposal also seeks to study eliminating parking requirements for other kinds of developments, such as new stores and restaurants.The proposal still faces a long road to becoming law. It now needs to pass a vote in the full 15-member council. If it does, the city’s Planning Department would be tasked with reporting back to the council about the costs, benefits, and feasibility of eliminating off-street parking requirements in new projects citywide.As Editor-in-Chief of our newsroom, I’m extremely proud of the work our top-notch journalists are doing here at LAist. We’re doing more hard-hitting watchdog journalism than ever before — powerful reporting on the economy, elections, climate and the homelessness crisis that is making a difference in your lives. At the same time, it’s never been more difficult to maintain a paywall-free, independent news source that informs, inspires, and engages everyone. Simply put, we cannot do this essential work without your help. Federal funding for public media has been clawed back by Congress and that means LAist has lost $3.4 million in federal funding over the next two years. So we’re asking for your help. LAist has been there for you and we’re asking you to be here for us. We rely on donations from readers like you to stay independent, which keeps our nonprofit newsroom strong and accountable to you. No matter where you stand on the political spectrum, press freedom is at the core of keeping our nation free and fair. And as the landscape of free press changes, LAist will remain a voice you know and trust, but the amount of reader support we receive will help determine how strong of a newsroom we are going forward to cover the important news from our community. Please take action today to support your trusted source for local news with a donation that makes sense for your budget.The decision follows a years-long effort to free Erik and his brother Lyle who are both serving life sentences for the 1989 shotgun slayings of their parents. Lyle Menendez has his hearing Friday.Unite Here Local 11 is already fighting for a $30 minimum wage. Now it's asking Olympics organizers to give $5 billion to new housing and ditch Airbnb.LA moves forward with plan to allow fewer stairs in many apartment buildings Some City Council members had questions about fire safety but agreed to draft new rules on single staircases to space for apartments in mid-sized buildings.There’s a ‘lake’ of oil under LA’s soon-to-close refinery. Who’s going to clean it up?Critics say the cash-strapped system misspent millions of dollars getting upgraded accounts for all students. CSU leaders insist they're needed to meet a changing economy.Thousands of once-secret police records are now public. Here’s how you can use themLA’s legal cannabis owners say multi-million dollar program to give them a hand up, instead left ‘complete debt and devastation’
L.A. City Council Off-Street Parking New Building Development Parking Requirement
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