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OP-ED - At long last, Council File 25-0002-S19, introduced in March, is scheduled for a vote at the City Council meeting on Tuesday, August 19 (Item #44). If adopted, this resolution would establish Los Angeles’ position to oppose SB 79 unless amended to exempt cities with State-approved Housing Elements.
Let’s be clear: A vote for the Council resolution is not a vote against housing density, as some advocates wrongly claim. Existing state law already allows increased density near transit. What SB 79does is strip Los Angeles (and other cities) of their land-use authority, replacing careful local planning with blunt, one-size-fits-all state mandates.
There is no reasonable case for SB 79 in Los Angeles. Cities across California are mobilizing against it. Meanwhile, to gain support of his bill, Senator Wiener has carved out the districts of some elected officials. The result? Cities like Los Angeles, if silent, will carry the heaviest burden of Senator Scott Wiener’s ongoing assault on single-family neighborhoods.
Where is Los Angeles in this fight? Why hasn’t our city spoken up?
Los Angeles already has an adopted Housing Element, a hard-fought plan balancing growth with infrastructure, sustainability, and livability. SB 79 would upend it, handing land-use decisions to developers and speculators whose only mandate is profit, not community. The city’s role is to plan livable, sustainable neighborhoods. SB 79 would take that role away.
Developers don’t plan for sustainability. They build to maximize return. The city, left with the fallout, will face:
- Strained water and power systems
- Overburdened streets
- Vanishing light, privacy, and open space
- Families priced out or displaced
The Department of Water and Power will be forced to chase scattered, piecemeal growth at enormous cost, rather than focusing on commercial corridors, the very strategy outlined in our Housing Element.
SB 79 is an unfunded state mandate. No resources are provided to address its impact, which includes randomly placed density in areas with insufficient infrastructure.
Los Angeles is already struggling to remain family friendly. SB 79 will accelerate the decline. No parent wants a five-, six-, or seven-story building looming over their child’s home. No homeowner should fear that their investment is at the mercy of state mandates written for speculators.
From a sustainability standpoint:
- Rooftop solar investments could be rendered useless
- Future solar installations made infeasible
- Urban canopy severely diminished
- Community input is eliminated, projects will be “ministerial” and “by right”
And let’s be honest: Upzoning entire swaths of Los Angeles will not solve affordability. It will not solve homelessness. What it will do is destabilize neighborhoods, displace long-time residents, and replace transit riders with tenants of market-rate and luxury housing who are far less reliant on transit.
It must be repeated: A vote for the Council resolution is not a vote against housing density. Los Angeles’ Housing Element already directs density where it belongs, focusing on transit adjacency, commercial corridors, and more.
The City Council now has the chance to take a stand, on Tuesday, August 19, just one day before the Assembly Appropriations Committee votes on SB 79.
Independent of Council action, Mayor Bass has a powerful voice. Angelenos are asking her to use it. Mayor: Speak out against SB 79 before it is too late.
On behalf of the hard-working residents who have invested their lives and livelihood in this city, we urge the Mayor and City Council: Protect Los Angeles from this misguided legislation and oppose SB 79 unless amended to exempt cities with State-approved Housing Elements.
City Council Agenda – Tuesday, Aug. 19 [link]
State Assembly Appropriations Committee – Wednesday, Aug. 20 Agenda
(Barbara Broide is a community activist who serves as President of the Westwood South of Santa Monica Blvd. Homeowners Association. She is a member of the Westside Neighborhood Council where she chairs the Planning and Land Use Committee.)
(Jeff Kalban is an architect, co-founder of United Neighbors, and Board Member of the Sherman Oaks Neighborhood Council where he chairs the Planning and Land Use Management Committee.)
[The opinons stated here are those of the authors and not necessarily of CItyWatchLA.com.]
