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Preserve LA

Coalition to Preserve LA Analysis says SB 50 is Far Worse than SB 827

Posted by: Marin Post - March 18, 2019 - 1:36 PM PDT

The following comments were submitted by Preserve LA, a citywide movement of concerned residents who believe in open government, people-oriented planning, equitable housing and environmental stewardship of Los Angeles through advocacy and empowering the community.

SB 50 Will Kill Cherished Neighborhoods, Gentrify Working-Class Communities and Worsen Housing Affordability, Displacing Tens of Thousands. It's a Russian Nesting Egg that, Once Unpeeled, Reveals Significant Harm to Renters, Homeowners, Trees and Green.

1) SB 50 wipes out single-family zones in 1000s of neighborhoods with good schools

SB 50 overturns single-family zoning in areas “above-median income, jobs-rich, with good public schools” that lack major transit (i.e., It allows tall apartments to replace houses in areas near good schools and jobs nowhere near transit. Wiener vows these areas will be substantial in size, once the vague definition for "jobs-rich" is decided upon).

2) SB 50 wipes out all single-family zoning within the following vast “transit” areas:

SB 50 bans cities from rejecting big residential luxury developments containing a small number of affordable units if A) they are proposed within a ¼-mile radius of a busy bus stop, or B) within a 1/2-mile radius of any rail or train stop. Single-family zoning is overturned.

3) Rewards construction of 85-ft towers next to single-family homes.

SB 50 encourages 75-ft and 85-ft-tall luxury towers in these single-family areas that are either too close to transit or too close to jobs and good schools. The height limit is NOT 45 feet and 55 feet, as Sen. Scott Wiener falsely implies in SB 50. Density Bonus allows up to +30 feet.

4) Cities can’t stop a luxury tower unless it "hurts public safety."

SB 50 is weaponized by the obscure 1982 Housing Accountability Act (HAA), which was quietly amended by Nancy Skinner & Scott Wiener in 2017. HAA now bans cities from rejecting any “density bonus” project unless the developer “puts public safety at risk.” (See short powerpoint on this Russian Nesting Egg layer to SB 50.)

5) Cities can’t reject developer's demolition of homes in the SB 50-targeted areas.

Weaponized by the Housing Accountability Act, SB 50 prevents cities from fighting developers who destroy homes to make way for housing towers in “jobs-rich, good schools areas” and in “transit” areas. SB 50 tells developers to sue if challenged by a city. Cities can halt only developments that pose a clear cut and objective "public safety risk."

6) SB 50 forces 'sensitive communities' to upzone themselves by 2025

SB 50 openly threatens “sensitive communities” — low-income, diverse areas. It requires them to up-zone their Community Plans in 5 years to conform to SB 50, annihilating their homeowner areas — a direct attack on starter-homes. If not, SB 50 will do it for them.

7) Relies on a Non-Existent "Vacant Building" Database that Doesn't Protect Renters: SB 50 proffers "protection" for renters by preventing developers from demolishing rental units unless they've been vacant 7 years. Few cities have this data. L.A. has only spotty knowledge of when a unit was vacant or if it's vacant now. Investors will buy out renters ("cash for keys"), claim the building was vacant 7 years and demolish it. SB 50 turns developers into the fox guarding the hen-house.

9) SB 50's Luxury Units Add More Misery, Building What Isn't Needed

Last year,83% of apartments built in California’s 3 largest cities were unaffordable luxury units.Rents & homelessness soared in these cities. SB 50 digs a deeper hole, rewarding market-rate housing if it includes a small (undefined) percent of affordable units. Research shows it takes 25 years for this luxury housing to "trickle down." The CA Legislative Analyst agrees in Perspectives on Helping Low-Income Californians: “Housing that likely was considered ‘luxury’ when first built declined to the middle of the housing market “Housing that likely was considered ‘luxury’ when first built declined to the middle of the housing market in 25 years”.

10) SB 50 Turns Bus Routes into Land Wars: San Diego is a Case Study

SB 50's Russian Nesting Egg contains a radical, unnoticed new power for transit agencies. If agencies shorten their bus stop “headways” to 15 minutes, developers can on their own override single-family zoning within ¼ mile of that stop, building 65 feet high. San Diego’s MTS’ Transit Optimization Plan update took just 6 months, adding numerous 15-minute intervals. This update, unbeknown to S.D. residents, means mass up-zoning under SB 50.

11) Big Picture: SB 50 puts developers in charge of their own planning and zoning

SB 50 turns 1000s of streets into density-bonus-on-steroids, where cities have NO say. Developers choose their own incentives from a menu of rewards and waivers. Below is a sample of existing local development standards & planning tools. SB 50 lets developers waive up to 3 zoning and planning rules, including height limits, such as:

Reality Check: Nobody wants to be The Next San Francisco, Sen. Wiener’s Hometown

Please email us at 2PreserveLA@gmail.com. This is a real-estate bill, not a housing bill. 2preservela.org / FB: PreserveLA

Web Link

http://www.2preservela.org/