November 28, 2023 #1 Local News, Forum, Information and Event Source for Venice Beach, California.

Opinion: Housing Battle Heats up in Signature Season

By Tom Elias, Columnist

Even before a proposed homeowner-inspired measure aiming to restore full zoning powers to local governments hit the streets looking to qualify for next fall’s ballot, the battle over who would control housing decisions in California began heating up.

Proponents will need just short of 1 million valid voter signatures to put their plan on the ballot, but because many non-voters also sign petitions, they’ll likely need to gather almost 1.5 million names to be certain.

That should not be too hard, once most homeowners understand how fully state legislators attempted last year to usurp the most basic powers cities and counties have long exercised.

As long as California has been a state, the most basic function of local governments has been to decide where housing will be placed, where it won’t go and how much to allow. Voters have passed countless ballot initiatives instructing their local governments in how to do that.

But with two strokes of a pen wielded by Gov. Gavin Newsom in September, that all may have ended. When he signed new laws known as Senate Bills 9 and 10, most city council members might as well have gone back to being ordinary citizens.

The two new laws allow at least six times as much building as before in areas formerly zoned for one home per lot. The ratio goes much higher for properties anywhere near rapid transit stops or “major transportation corridors.”

All without any requirements for either new parking spaces, water, schools or even a single affordable housing unit.

If ever there’s been a plot to let developers get rich quick, this is it. In fact, many of the liberal Democratic lawmakers who voted for these two bills see their election campaigns at least partly funded by developers.

Homeowner groups view these new laws as a license for unbridled development at a time when almost everyone believes California has a massive housing shortage. This perception is furthered by the homeless encampments that abound in almost all parts of the state.

When he ran for office in 2018, Newsom vowed to spur the building of 3.5 million new housing units by 2026, eight years later. But new home construction lags far behind that pace, and units that do get built often languish unsold for many months, even if they are supposedly affordable.

One reason is cost. The average affordable housing unit now runs more than $450,000 to construct, and most families with income below California’s median of $75,200 per year (half the households in the state earn more than that yearly, the other half do not), can’t afford so-called affordable housing.

There’s an illusion in the public consciousness that the unhoused will somehow benefit from new affordable housing. But almost none of them have the cash to buy in.

Meanwhile, state officials do nothing to promote and speed conversion of vacant office space into residences, many of which would cost far less to create than today’s supposedly affordable units.

Into this picture now come developers with large bankrolls offering to buy up existing one-home lots and build as many as six units on each, with no new amenities for the surrounding community. The same developers are behind another initiative that would completely counteract the one aiming to save single-family zoning. The way this one is written, whichever measure gets more votes will govern, period. No compromises here.

Many homeowners now getting behind the initiative to cancel SB 9 and 10 and give land use decisions back to local officials appear unaware of the competing initiative, but both will almost certainly make the ballot.

This promises to be a battle unlike anything since 1978, when Proposition 13 clashed with another measure known as Proposition 10, a softer version of 13’s property tax limits. Both passed, but 13 got more votes and has governed ever since.

Meanwhile, websites and organizations are popping up regularly with names like “Our Neighborhood Voices” and “Liveable California.”

The upcoming competition is vital because so much of California’s character would change if SB 9 and 10 were allowed to let developers proceed without concern for either anything aesthetic or the infrastructure they have traditionally had to provide when erecting new subdivisions.

Email Thomas Elias at tdelias@aol.com. His book, “The Burzynski Breakthrough, The Most Promising Cancer Treatment and the Government’s Campaign to Squelch It” is now available in a soft cover fourth edition. For more Elias columns, visit www.californiafocus.net

Related Posts

“Grandmother of the Internet” Sharla Boehm’s Home Lists for $5.45M

November 26, 2023

November 26, 2023

She Passed Away Earlier This Year Shortly After the Death of Her Husband By Zach Armstrong A five-bedroom, five-bathroom $5.45...

Renowned Architect’s Final Work Lists in Venice at Over $4M

November 26, 2023

November 26, 2023

Celebrated for His Contributions to Modern Architecture, He Poured His Vision and Expertise Into This Creation Before His Passing in...

Venice Home Built in 1906 on Market for $1.8M

November 26, 2023

November 26, 2023

While Preserving Its Original 1906 Floor-Plan, the Property Has Undergone Significant Enhancements In the heart of Venice lies a three-bedroom...

MTV Co-Founder Purchases Santa Monica Home for $7.9M

November 20, 2023

November 20, 2023

The Distinctive Traditional-Style Residence Was Sold in 1972 for a Mere $150,000 Positioned in the heart of Santa Monica, a...

Venice Shorts: L.A. Planning Presentation on Revisions to the Local Specific Plan

November 19, 2023

November 19, 2023

“Listening Session” Creates More Questions Than Answers at VNC General Monthly Meeting and Zoom Presentation! By Nick Antonicello The Venice...

Four-Bedroom Lake Street Home on Market For $2.8M

November 19, 2023

November 19, 2023

Accordion Glass Doors Effortlessly Connect the Indoor Space to the Backyard, Which Includes a BBQ, Fridge 981 Lake Street is...

Silver Strand Estate On Market for Over $4.6M

November 13, 2023

November 13, 2023

Includes a Four-Stop Elevator and a Primary Bedroom With a Dual-Sided Fireplace A remodeled Italian villa in the Silver Strand...

See Where This Venice Zip Code Ranks In America’s Priciest

November 13, 2023

November 13, 2023

Unsurprisingly, Los Angeles Ranked as the Second-Priciest Metro Area in 2023 By Zach Armstrong Venice locals typically pay multiple millions...

Revised Policy Increases Affordable Housing Requirements in Marina del Rey

November 6, 2023

November 6, 2023

This Mandate Applies to New Leases or New Development Projects. By Zach Armstrong After the L.A. Board of Supervisors approved...

European-Inspired Estate on Huntington Bluffs Lists for Nearly $25M

November 5, 2023

November 5, 2023

The Home Comprises an Entertainer’s Kitchen, a Wine and Billiards Room, a Library, an Elevator and 10-Vehicle Garage This European-inspired...

Nearly 5,000 Sq Ft Venice Land Lot on Market for $6.5M

November 5, 2023

November 5, 2023

The Property Is Adjacent to an Undeveloped Lot on Electric Avenue Located on Abbot Kinney, this $6.5 million property at...

Equity Firm Adjusts Plans for Another Santa Monica Mixed-Use Project

October 30, 2023

October 30, 2023

It’s Modified Plan Incorporates 150 Residential Units and Ground-Floor Commercial Space Cypress Equity Investments has initiated revisions once again for...

Santa Clara Ave Residence on Market for $5.9M

October 30, 2023

October 30, 2023

The Layout Features a Projector System That Projects Images and Videos Onto an Oversized White Wall This property at 633...

“Nexus House” in Venice Lists on Market for $9.8M

October 30, 2023

October 30, 2023

The Residence Was Conceived by Woods + Dangaran AIA and Brought to Life by Saint Aignan Builders Nexus House, a...

Halloween Boat Parade Coming to Marina del Rey

October 24, 2023

October 24, 2023

The Parade Is Set to Include Prizes Awarded in Multiple Categories The 2nd Annual Halloween Boat Parade, “Hola Halloween”, is...