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Thursday, September 05-September 11, 2024
Monrovia City Council considers 'inclusionary' affordable housing ordinance
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The table shows the number of affordable units in Monrovia. RNHA stands for Regional Housing Needs Allocation. | Image courtesy of the city of Monrovia
to reach our goal. ... We're not achieving the amount of affordable housing that is set forth in our goal. I really don't think there's anywhere in California that's been able to produce the amount of housing in these affordable categories." David Blumenthal from Sagecrest Planning+Environmental said, "Establishing a threshold (of required affordable units) that's too high could discourage development, and that's why we do the fiscal analysis. ... We see that it's just not true that it discourages development, we actually see an increase in development with the inclusionary housing." Jimenez shared that the median income in LA County is $98,200, which is how city
Governor proclaims state of emergency as landslides continue in Rancho Palos Verdes
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joet@beaconmedianews.com
unit," Jimenez said. "That's a lot of money, it's just very expensive. All of this would be affected by our inclusionary ordinance because what that would do would be to dedicate a certain number of units based on a certain percentage based on the council's direction that we would have affordable units included in new housing developments." Deputy Director of Community Development Sheri Bermejo shared findings from research by city staff and consultants. "Some of the obvious takeaways are Monrovia is producing housing," Bermejo said. "We've exceeded all of our above-moderate-income across all levels. The other takeaway is we're not really achieving affordable housing
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By City News Service
By Joe Taglieri he Monrovia City Council on Tuesday received a briefing on options for an ordinance requiring new developments to have affordable housing units. The city's consultants gave a presentation to the council that included recommendations for housing policy via "inclusionary housing" regulations in the next five years. Following a financial analysis of real estate development in the region, Kaiser Marston Associates recommended new apartment buildings in Monrovia have a 6% lowincome units for buildings up to 20 residences and 10% lowincome units for complexes with more than 20 dwellings. Kaiser Marston also suggested developers have the option of paying a fee in lieu of adding affordable units to apartment buildings with up to 20 living spaces. The consulting firm's report to the council suggested fees of $397,300 or $29.40 per square foot of the total building size for "ownership housing developments" such as condominiums. For apartments, the firm suggested $468,000 or $24.50 per square foot. "Housing affordability is a big issue," Monrovia Community Development Director Craig Jimenez told council members, noting that the average rent in Monrovia is between $2,900 and $3,000 for an 800-square-foot unit. "Housing sales are over $1 million for a dwelling
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officials will provide the baselines for setting the limit of rent prices. Moderate income is up to 120% of the median income, low income is up to 80% and very low is 50%. Moderate annual income for a four-person household in the county is $117,850, low income is up to $100,900 and very low is $63,050, with an extremely low subset that caps at $37,850. In LA County 88 cities and the county have an inclusionary housing ordinance, included in the more than 170 municipalities statewide currently include an Inclusionary Housing Program Tuesday's study session is available on the city's website in the "Your Government" section' "Meeting Agendas & Minutes" tab.
n the heels of power being shut off for hundreds of residences in Rancho Palos Verdes, Gov. Gavin Newsom proclaimed a state of emergency Tuesday in the city in an effort to free up state resources to assist in the response. "The Governor's Office of Emergency Services has been coordinating with the city and county for nearly a year to support the response to the land movement, including providing technical assistance, supporting the local assistance center, facilitating a federal mitigation grant for groundwater work in the area, and helping officials with initial damage estimates," according to a statement from Newsom's office. Some local officials have been pressuring Newsom to visit the city to view the impact of the landslides and to provide state assistance for residents. County Supervisor Janice Hahn said during a news conference Sunday that she had committed another $5 million in county funds to respond to the disaster, but far more money would be needed. Hahn said she reached out to Newsom's office on Saturday, and estimated that upward of $1 billion in government funding might eventually be needed to address the situation. The city of Rancho Palos Verdes declared a local emergency earlier this summer. On Monday, Southern See Landslides Page 16
California Edison cut electricity service to 105 residences in the Seaview area impacted by the landslide concerns. On Sunday, 140 homes in the Portuguese Bend community had their electrical service turned off. Those residents were also placed under an evacuation warning. "Last night, Southern California Edison (SCE) notified the city and 105 out of 270 Seaview homes that their electricity service will be discontinued for varying lengths of time, due to the risk of utility equipment igniting a wildfire and other hazards caused by downed wires or damaged equipment impacted by landslide movement," the city said in an update Monday morning. "The power shutoff will start on Monday, September 2, 2024 at approximately 7 p.m. to the following: -- 47 homes will be without power for 24 hours; -- 40 properties will be without power for 1 to 3 weeks; -- 20 properties will be without power indefinitely." SCE stationed a Community Care Vehicle at the corner of Narcissa Drive and Fruit Tree Road on Monday to offer support to residents, and the vehicle was stationed at the Ladera Linda Community Center at 32201 Forrestal Drive between 10 a.m. and 7 p.m. Tuesday to assist residents in the Portuguese Bend community. The Seaview residences were not under an evacuation