On Jan. 19th, the Long Beach City Council voted unanimously for preliminary approval of two ordinances designed to increase affordable housing. The policy is still subject to objections prior to final approval, but if it continues as written, 11% of rental developments and 10% of housing developments will need to be set aside for affordable housing, else be subject to a fee. This would apply only to developments of 9 or more units in certain areas of Long Beach.
The City doesn’t want this to be a temporary solution, so ideally the policy will be the best it can be. However, it’s already been the focus of some criticism, ironically that some aspects end after a certain number of years and the policy therefore looks a lot like a temporary solution. There were also objections to the long phase-in schedule and the rather lenient option of developers replacing nearby properties with affordable housing if they don’t want to include them in the development itself.
Photo by Anthony Fomin on Unsplash