ABOUT CCA

LOS ANGELES HOUSING CRISIS & DEVELOPMENT REFORM

·         During the past two years, CCA has taken the lead role on behalf of the Southern California business community in addressing Los Angeles’ affordable housing crisis. 

·         Recognizing the acute housing shortage in Los Angeles, CCA co-sponsored a Business / Housing Summit in February 2001, which brought together divergent interests to address the affordable housing issue.

·         In October 2001, CCA released a comprehensive White Paper outlining housing solutions, several of which were then included in the Mayor’s own housing plan.

·         In mid-2002, CCA convened a distinguished Housing Production Committee, which included developers, land use attorneys, the Mayor’s staff, City Council staff, and City department staff. 

·         Recently, CCA’s Housing Production Committee released its White Paper, “ L.A.’s Housing Supply Crisis: A Plan to Increase Housing in Los Angeles”, which makes specific recommendations for policy and code reform that will make housing production easier, cheaper, and faster without compromising safety.  

·         CCA will continue to be the lead business organization as we endeavor to implement policy reforms that will increase housing production.

BUSINESS TAX REFORM

·         CCA has taken a leadership role on this bottom line issue for Los Angeles’ businesses since 1999 as one of the founding members of the Business Tax Advisory Committee (BTAC). 

·         Part of this tax overhaul involves increased collection and compliance by businesses within the City. 

·         Recent BTAC successes include the adoption of a “Single Category” filing option for business tax filers in Los Angeles by the City Council. This filing option allows a business that currently must file in multiple categories, such as retail and manufacturing, to file in only one category, provided the single category represents over 80% of the company’s operation- a major accomplishment for the L.A. business environment. 

·         CCA and its members will continue to fight for tax reform and play a key role on BTAC.

HOMELESSNESS

·         In November 2002, CCA released a comprehensive plan to improve the quality of life in Downtown Los Angeles.  The report, titled “Downtown’s Human Tragedy: It’s Not Acceptable Anymore” is a public health and safety plan for Downtown’s eastern area, which has a disproportionate share of the county’s homeless population. 

·         CCA members strongly believe that the business community has an obligation to address a crisis that affects our entire community.  Therefore, CCA’s Public Safety, Health and Homelessness Committee met with Downtown stakeholders and key city and county officials as it crafted the plan over several months.

·         The CCA Plan includes several specific legislative and policy changes designed to help those in need to get assistance and to protect the public health and safety.

·          Implementation of the plan is currently underway and CCA has made significant progress in conjunction with the police department, City Attorney’s office, sheriff’s department, service providers, homeless advocates, residents, property owners, and other stakeholders.

INCLUSIONARY ZONING

·         The City released the long-awaited study on the feasibility of a citywide Inclusionary Zoning Ordinance on March 25, 2003.  Inclusionary Zoning Ordinances require new housing developments to set-aside a specific percentage of units for low-income residents, but often do not include public funds to offset the cost of such set-asides.

·         This policy can have a chilling effect on new development unless developers are offered real incentives to reduce these costs; CCA is leading discussions with the City and other groups to find common ground.

COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENT AREA LIVING WAGE

·         CCA has been advocating for a reasonable policy since the discussion of a living wage in Community Redevelopment areas began in 2000.  At that time, CCA’s position was against a living wage policy if directly applied to tenants.

·         Recently the Board of Commissioners of the Community Redevelopment Agency voted to adopt a Living Wage Ordinance (LWO) and policies for Contractor Responsibility, Service Worker Retention and Equal Benefits at a special meeting of the Board on May 29, 2003.

·          CCA raised the competitive and economic impacts of such a policy and the Agency Board made some changes recognizing these concerns. 

·         CCA vigilantly monitors all Community Redevelopment Agency development issues.

FILMING IN DOWNTOWN

·         CCA’s Committee on Sports, Culture and Entertainment is spearheading discussions with film industry officials on the very volatile issue of location filming.  The majority of legitimate filming is of great benefit to the City in terms of fees paid and job creation. 

·         CCA has set up a working group made up of film industry and production representatives, businesses and residents and Council representatives to develop new policies that will meet resident and business concerns.  

PLANNING DEPARTMENT

·         The Planning Department has a huge task as it endeavors to process hundreds of project applications.

·         Since the existing application backlogs can cause costly construction delays, the Planning Department and the private sector have sought remedies that will expedite application processing. 

·         Recently, CCA lobbied Mayor Hahn and City Council members requesting that the City release seven Planning Department staff including an Associate Zoning Administrator from the current hiring freeze and support an expedited permit processing fee.  The new fee, similar to one successfully administered by the Department of Building and Safety, would create a fast-track process for those who choose to participate.

·         CCA continues to testify before City Council and lobby in support of an expedited permit processing fee.

PREDATORY LENDING

·         Over the last two years, CCA had been working on behalf of its banking membership to create fair and reasonable legislation regarding predatory lending.  Predatory Lending is a practice by unscrupulous companies and individuals who prey on first-time homebuyers, mortgage refinancing customers or persons who qualify in a sub-prime lending category. 

·         Historically, CCA has been opposed to a local ordinance on this issue because we believe it duplicates recently adopted State legislation. 

·         CCA worked diligently to ensure that a new local ordinance would not prevent access to capital for sub-prime category individuals. Nonetheless, the City Council approved a local ordinance that requires mandatory counseling and other provisions in an effort to curb predatory lending. 

·         The American Financial Services Association and other lending associations are considering legal action.

SECESSION

·         CCA was the first business organization in L.A. to oppose secession, one of the key issues of 2002.  Ultimately, secession was an unsuccessful effort by activists to break the San Fernando Valley away from Los Angeles and form their own city.  

·         Recognizing that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts, CCA worked hard to ensure that one of the world’s great cities stayed together. 

·         In addition to helping raise funds for the unification effort, CCA conducted secession education events, sponsored debates, and worked right along side the Mayor to bring a message of unity to the City. 

DOWNTOWN DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY

·         This February, at a celebratory press conference with a spectacular view of the Downtown skyline as its backdrop, Mayor Hahn joined CCA in unveiling its Downtown Development Strategy, a blueprint for making Downtown a vibrant 24-hour entertainment, residential, cultural, sports, business and government center. 

·         The Downtown Development Strategy encourages new housing, an invigorated street life, improved pedestrian corridors, and development of catalytic projects.  The Plan also identifies key areas for commercial and residential investment that will guide development for the next 10 years.

ADAPTIVE REUSE ORDINANCE

·         Sponsored by CCA, the Adaptive Reuse Ordinance was originally adopted in April 1999 to allow for the conversion of pre-1974 commercial buildings to housing in the greater Downtown area. 

·         CCA has been working hard to increase the coverage of the Ordinance, including expanding its boundaries to include Central City West, Lincoln Heights, Chinatown, Central Avenue, Wilshire and Hollywood. 

·         In addition, CCA successfully fought to ensure that residential hotels, many of which are havens for parole violators and criminals, could be converted to housing under the Ordinance.    

NEW CONSTRUCTION WORKING GROUP

·         A key component in housing construction and one of CCA’s Housing White Paper recommendations has already gained interest from the Los Angeles City Fire Department. 

·         Due to the hard work of CCA and its members, the Los Angeles City Fire Department has agreed to assemble a working group of developers and key City officials to study the creation of a new fire zone for Downtown.

·          Due to the tremendous advancements in technology in new construction, fire and life-safety regulations are somewhat outdated.  Working with the Fire and Building and Safety Departments, it is the working group’s intent to reduce costs to developers without exchanging savings for safety.

NEW DOWNTOWN SUPERMARKET

·         In December, the CRA Board of Commissioners gave final approval for the much anticipated 9^th and Flower Project.  This project includes retail, housing, and most important, a supermarket. 

·         For many years, Downtown residents have been hampered by the lack of a full-service supermarket in the area.   Conveniences such as a supermarket are vital to Downtown’s growing residential community and could pave the way for more residential development. 

·         CCA has been a champion for the Downtown supermarket / mixed-use project since its conception, and continues to work with the developers to ensure a smooth process through development.

CENTRAL CITY COMMUNITY PLAN

·         The Central City Community Plan is the city’s official guide for future development within the Central City Community Plan area (10 Fwy on the South; 110 Fwy on the West; Alameda St. on the East, and Cesar Chavez Ave. on the North). 

·         CCA’s Housing and Land Use Committee developed suggested changes and updates to make the five-year old Plan more relevant given new land uses and developments in the Central City.  These recommendations were enthusiastically received by the Planning Department, and the new plan was adopted by the City Council. 

·         CCA is the leading private sector voice for Downtown planning and redevelopment and will continue to work with all public agencies that have an impact on shaping the Central City.

Central City Association
626 Wilshire Blvd, Suite 200
Los Angeles, CA  90017

Phone:  213.624.1213
Fax:  213.624.0858

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