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Extracted from Consolidated Report
This investigation was originally published as part of a larger consolidated report containing multiple investigations. View the consolidated PDF for the complete document.
Los Angeles County Grand Jury
• 2016-2017
Make Invsetments that Transform Lives
⚠️ Translation Notice: This content has been automatically translated. The original English text is the official version. Translation may contain errors.
⚠️ Este contenido ha sido traducido automáticamente. El texto original en inglés es la versión oficial. La traducción puede contener errores.
Findings 8 findings
F1
Page 23
The affordable housing shortage is a crisis that affects all residents in the County of Los Angeles The majority of County residents are negatively affected by the current gross housing shortage. These range from the 47,000 homeless people to wage earners who must spend an unaffordable 60+% of their incomes on housing to the 1.6M people currently without suitable housing to professionals who compromise their spending priorities to work in the County of Los Angeles.
F2
Page 23
Existing approaches are expanding housing stock but have proven inadequate. The following approaches to creating new housing have been tried but are not adequate for correcting the County housing shortage: Private housing developments, subsidized housing developments, public housing stock, subsidized rent, and affordable unit set asides.
F3
Page 23
Negative repercussions from the affordable housing crisis on the County’s economy are already present and are likely to increase without corrective action.69
F4
Page 23
The “housing first” paradigm may be extended and improved by adding a “shelter first/housing next” component. A commitment to humane, safe, and temporary shelter for all those who would otherwise be “homeless” can be an effective and economical precursor to the County’s praiseworthy “housing first” commitment.
F5
Page 23
Interests opposed to a housing supply expansion are powerful and are culturally and financially motivated.70 To correct the housing shortage, NIMBY-ism, unrestricted short term housing, real estate investors, established homeowners, etc., all must be addressed. 69 http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-california-growth-nation-20160927-snap-story.html 70 http://uccs.ucdavis.edu/uccs-crre-housing-policy-brief-white-paper 14 2016-2017 LOS ANGELES COUNTY CIVIL GRAND JURY FINAL REPORT
F6
Page 24
There are a number of alternative approaches for new housing that promise high quality at lower cost.
F7
Page 24
The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) has been misused as a tool for NIMBY purposes. CEQA is good and necessary but can probably be improved to provide its intended purpose without some of the unintended uses it has spawned.
F8
Page 24
Short-term rentals are increasing the housing shortage.
Recommendations 10
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R1Page 11The County of Los Angeles Board of Supervisors should formally declare the Los Angeles County housing shortage a crisis.
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R2Page 11The City of Los Angeles Mayor and City Council, should formally declare that the Los Angeles City housing shortage is a crisis.
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R3Page 12(=> apartments) to R1 (=> single family residences). Mission Impossible: Meeting California’s Housing Challenge, Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG), October 2016-Foreword-Illustration2. Housing in the Los Angeles Sustainability Plan. Bloomberg Associates, August 13, 2014, p.7-8. Mission Impossible: Meeting California’s Housing Challenge, SCAG, October 2016-Foreword-Illustration2. 11 https://www.lahsa.org/homeless-count/reports 2016-2017 LOS ANGELES COUNTY CIVIL GRAND JURY FINAL REPORT 3 Current Provisions for Housing in Los Angeles County The Southern California Housing Marketplace
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R4Page 11The County of Los Angeles Board of Supervisors should adopt a “shelter first/housing next” extension to “housing first” paradigm to speed eliminating street homelessness. 2016-2017 LOS ANGELES COUNTY CIVIL GRAND JURY FINAL REPORT 15
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R5Page 11The City of Los Angeles Mayor and City Council should adopt a “shelter first/housing next” extension to the “housing first” paradigm to speed eliminating street homelessness.
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R6Page 11The County of Los Angeles Board of Supervisors should develop a plan to educate/incentivize against “NIMBY – ism.”
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R7Page 11The County of Los Angeles Board of Supervisors should consider early purchase of land around proposed transport facilities, as defined by METRO, to reserve it for affordable housing.
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R8Page 11The County of Los Angeles Board of Supervisors should lobby the California State Governor and Legislature to prevent the misuse of CEQA to delay and kill projects beyond its legitimate purpose.
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R9Page 11The County of Los Angeles Board of Supervisors should restrict, by law, conversion of housing to short term rentals.
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R10Page 11The City of Los Angeles should restrict, by law, conversion of housing to short term rentals. VI