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March 3, 2017

Enviros Back Measure That Could Worsen L.A.’s Housing Crisis

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Measure S, a Los Angeles ballot measure that will put in place more regulations to slow development, could worsen the city’s ongoing housing crisis. From USC Professor Jan Breidenbach’s op-ed in the Los Angeles Times:

Measure S is advertised as a radical fix to business as usual, ending cronyism between big developers and City Hall. But it will worsen, not help, our housing crisis. In terms of our city’s land-use politics, the proposition is a continuation of the “homeowner revolution” that began 50 years ago — an attempt by homeowners to perpetuate a low-density, single-family Los Angeles, one that resembles a suburb more than a global city.

Measure S supporters have run a campaign based on information and scare tactics, as reported in a Los Angeles Times editorial:

One deceptive mailer says Yes on S will “house our vets.” But Measure S does nothing to help homeless veterans. In fact, “S” would make it harder to build housing for homeless vets because it would impose a two-year moratorium on real estate projects that require a zone change, a height increase or an amendment of the city’s General Plan — all fairly common requests in a city with terribly outdated planning rules.

Environmentalist groups, including the Los Angeles Audubon Society, San Fernando Valley Audubon Society, Citizens for Los Angeles Wildlife (CLAW), Ballona Wetlands Institute, Preserve Benedict Canyon, NELA GreenSpace, and Progressive Democrats of the Santa Monica Mountains have endorsed Measure S despite the harm the initiative could do to affordable housing in Los Angeles.