Prop-B Would Keep Housing Funds in L.A.

LOS ANGELES, CA - There's no campaign, no mailers, no education or outreach on Proposition B, but city leaders say the measure means Los Angeles could keep or lose millions of dollars in affordable-housing money. Proposition B would erase restrictions in place to prohibit low-income housing projects that are larger than five units and taller than two stories. Those limits have been city law since the 1970s as a backlash against massive public housing projects, but the restrictions have been ignored in recent years as the city and state subsidized the construction of many larger low-income projects.

But last year, state officials started looking more closely at the old laws and decided L.A. needed to remove those size restrictions or risk losing some of the $2.9 billion in affordable-housing bond money approved by voters in 2006.

Proposition B supporters, including Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and the City Council, argue those height and size restrictions no longer make sense in L.A.'s real estate market, where land and construction costs are high. Plus, the state prioritizes funding for denser low-income housing developments that are built near transit hubs, so L.A. would lose out on competitive housing funds if it limited projects to two stories. "If we didn't do this, the funding would go elsewhere," Councilman Greig Smith said. "This is an administrative fix."

Proposition B opponents argue that those height and size restrictions are supposed to protect communities from being overwhelmed by dense, tall buildings. Removing the restrictions removes one more protection for residential neighborhoods.

James O'Sullivan of the Miracle Mile Residential Association said Proposition B looks like a backroom deal orchestrated by the mayor and council to allow taller, denser residential projects. "I expect the city of Los Angeles to come up and have an open debate about why these (limits) are not working and how we can change them, not simply put them on a proposition where people don't have the time to read them," O'Sullivan said. But city housing officials said affordable housing developments still have to be permitted and meet community height and density limits.