County Regional Planning Commission Passes Inclusionary Housing Ordinance
IRWINDALE - On Wednesday, in a 5-0 vote the Los Angeles County Regional Planning Commission (RPC) passed the County's Draft Inclusionary Housing Ordinance with several harmful amendments. The Partnership had strongly opposed the ordinance.
"The County's Inclusionary Housing Ordinance will only increase the cost of housing in the unincorporated areas while discouraging new construction," said Partnership President & CEO Bill Manis. "The amendments that were added, only make the new ordinance worse."
The added amendments include:
- A new definition of what is considered a "small project" - lowered from 20 or less units to 15 or less units.
- Amended the offsite option to require that offsite units remain in the same or higher opportunity band.
- Requires an MOU and report on contributions made if a third party partnership provides offsite units.
- Changed the covenant requirements from 50 years to 99 years contingent on a report from the County consultants on this feasibility.
- Based on a future review from County consultants, they will amend the previously exempted sub-markets to include a feasible percentage of inclusionary housing.
These new amendments significantly worsen the ordinance by making housing production more challenging. More updates will be forthcoming as the ordinance moves to the Board of Supervisors for final approval.
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