This month, the Los Angeles Department of City Planning and the Housing + Community Investment Department released the 2021-2029 Housing Element Draft, The Plan to House LA. An executive summary of the Plan can be read here.

CCA is highly engaged in this process and serves on the Housing Element Task Force. We have been involved on this issue dating back to our 2018 White Paper Regional Housing Needs Assessment: The Need for Reform in Future Cycles. In this paper we successfully advocated that housing goals should reflect the past unmet and current needs. Our successful advocacy and new state legislation make this Housing Element update far more significant than previous updates.

What does the Housing Element do?

• Sets the City's policy and program direction.
• Used to review housing projects and new housing policies/programs.
• Includes analyses of existing housing conditions and needs with strategies to address them.
• Uses the Regional Housing Needs Assessment (RHNA) to inform housing goals and determines the need for rezoning.

The City's Housing Element has an established housing goal of almost 500,00 new units to be built by 2029 and must show the necessary zoning capacity to meet the housing goal. If the city does not meet its annual housing goal, then permitting and review must be greatly expedited per Senate Bill 35.

How does the Housing Element relate to other plans?

What's new this cycle?
RHNA & Site Selection
The City of LA has been assigned a RHNA goal of 456,643 new units and 184,721 must be income restricted units to be built by 2029. The City must identify enough sites to accommodate the RHNA goals or must re-zone within three years to make up any shortfall. Available and suitable sites must reflect realistic capacity per Assembly Bill (AB) 1397 and must "affirmatively further fair housing" per AB 686 or create a program(s) to address housing discrimination and access to opportunity. The income restricted portion of the sites must already be zoned at densities of at least 30 units per acre to allow for this housing. Earlier this year, we encouraged the City to include realistic site selection and are pleased to see our suggestions reflected in this draft.

Does the City have the necessary zoning capacity?
The draft Housing Element estimates that current zoning capacity would support expected development of 266,647 units leaving a zoning shortfall of 219,732 units. To close this gap, necessary rezoning will occur over three years through a variety of measures including community plans, citywide rezoning efforts, updating affordable housing programs such as Density Bonus and TOC Guidelines as well as Inclusionary Zoning.

CCA will be tracking the policy deliberations regarding Inclusionary Zoning. The City recently approved funding for the first phase of a feasibility study and potential framework regarding Inclusionary Zoning. We will also be working with the City to update the Density Bonus ordinance and to streamline other processes to make building housing more efficient and equitable in our City and to meet the RHNA allocation.

What's next?
The Housing Element Draft EIR will be released this summer and will be considered by the City Planning Commission in September 2021 (tentative date) followed by consideration at the City Council's Housing Committee and Planning & Land Use Management Committee as well as the City Council. The Plan is expected to be adopted by October 2021 to meet state deadlines.