Affordable housing streamlining ordinance clears City Planning ... - Urbanize LA

The Affordable Housing Streamlining Ordinance is intended to codify many of the elements of the Mayor*s Executive Directive 1, which has been used in applications totaling more than 8,000 units of affordable and permanent supportive housing since it was announced in late 2022. That order set a mandate that city departments must complete the pre-construction review process for all 100 percent affordable housing developments within a 60-day period, and also offered streamlining provisions for under-construction projects.

The permanent ordinance, which next goes to the City Council Planning Committee for consideration, pares back some of the elements of Executive Directive 1 - albeit to a lesser degree than initially proposed.

When the draft ordinance was initially rolled out in September, housing advocates and industry voices pointed to a "poison pill," in the legislation which would have blocked nearly half of ED1 projects from the get-go. One of the provisions in the draft ordinance viewed as being particularly unworkable was a limit of two off-menu density bonus incentives or waivers - as of October 2, 2023, Planning Department data indicated that more than 30 percent of ED1 applications had requested three or more off-menu incentives.