Hello,
I hope that you have chosen to join us in support of rejecting the proposed repeal of LA’s second dwelling unit ordinance. As the Coalition to Save LA’s Neighborhoods continues to raise awareness of the proposed repeal, we need your active support to further protect and preserve the communities of Los Angeles.
City Watch LA has published an additional article that sheds light on the detrimental effects the repeal can have. The article can be accessed through the link below:
Alert! LA Planning’s Repeal of Second Dwelling Standards Threatens your Single-Family Neighborhood by Michelle Kiers
I’ve attached photos of the second dwelling unit referenced in Michelle Kiers’s piece. These images powerfully capture the danger in repealing our local second unit protections and defaulting to the state standards, which will allow outsized second units by-right throughout the City.
It is a critical time to make our voices heard with our Council offices. I’ve attached a draft email that we hope you will consider sending to Councilmember Krekorian, Councilmember Ryu, and Councilmember Martinez. We hope that you will forward the email to neighbors and members of your neighborhood association and ask them to call or email the Councilmembers as well.
If you have not yet sent an email to your Councilmember, the contact information for your Councilmember and the relevant staffers involved are:
Councilmember Krekorian
AND
Councilmember Ryu
AND
Councilmember Martinez
If you could, please also BCC me and my colleagues at:
The Council will likely vote on the second unit ordinance after their return from recess on August 1. This is our last week to act before the Council allows our neighborhoods to be unprotected.
As Michelle Kiers put it in her article, “the City Council must recognize that one of the City’s most important assets – strong, stable single-family neighborhoods – should not be compromised in this manner.”
Again, I urge you to reach out to me with any questions or concerns.
Best,
Dylan
| Dear Councilmember Krekorian, |
I am writing to strongly encourage you to reject the proposed repeal of the City’s existing second dwelling unit ordinance.
An article published in City Watch LA this week sheds light on the damaging effect a repeal would have on the communities of Los Angeles. The article, Alert! LA Planning’s Repeal of Second Dwelling Standards Threatens your Single-Family Neighborhood,
lays out one homeowner’s experience in which a developer took advantage of the lenient state standards to build essentially a second full sized home on a lot zoned for one.
After seeing the photos and reading the story, it is evident that adopting the lenient State standards for second dwelling units poses a threat to the character and infrastructure of our neighborhoods. These neighborhoods are zoned for single family homes and a repeal of the second dwelling ordinance would create a permanent loophole that will inevitably lead to more cases like the one described in the City Watch piece.
We do not want all second dwelling units to be prohibited entirely. Rather, we are simply asking that you support the enforcement of our existing, sensible zoning standards that protect single-family neighborhoods throughout the City.
I understand that the availability of affordable housing is a major issue in this city.
However, as the City Watch article pointed out:
“I don’t understand why the City Council would repeal our Zoning Code development standards for second dwellings and intentionally adopt a policy designed to insert huge, highly visible second units in the backyards of our single-family neighborhoods. It is particularly hard to understand when the second houses will be rented at rates that won’t be affordable to low-income families. And I don’t understand why the City Council would surrender its zoning authority to standards adopted in Sacramento.”
Abandoning the cities local control around second dwelling units is not the answer to the problems at hand, and would likely make things worse. Repealing this ordinance will have a lasting impact on the landscape of our neighborhoods and it is essential that it is handled in a responsible way.
You have several options to comply with the recent court ruling. There is no reason to simply discard our protective local standards. If revisions to the Second Dwelling Unit ordinance are necessary, at the very least they must be considered with adequate public outreach, not on the current “fast track” basis, so that all stakeholders have the opportunity to consider proposed changes and express their opinion.
Michelle’s article in City Watch illustrates why this must be the case.
Please oppose the ill-advised proposal to repeal the Second Dwelling Unit ordinance.
Sincerely,
| Dear Councilmember Ryu, |
I am writing to strongly encourage you to reject the proposed repeal of the City’s existing second dwelling unit ordinance.
An article published in City Watch LA this week sheds light on the damaging effect a repeal would have on the communities of Los Angeles. The article, Alert! LA Planning’s Repeal of Second Dwelling Standards Threatens your Single-Family Neighborhood,
lays out one homeowner’s experience in which a developer took advantage of the lenient state standards to build essentially a second full sized home on a lot zoned for one.
After seeing the photos and reading the story, it is evident that adopting the lenient State standards for second dwelling units poses a threat to the character and infrastructure of our neighborhoods. These neighborhoods are zoned for single family homes and a repeal of the second dwelling ordinance would create a permanent loophole that will inevitably lead to more cases like the one described in the City Watch piece.
We do not want all second dwelling units to be prohibited entirely. Rather, we are simply asking that you support the enforcement of our existing, sensible zoning standards that protect single-family neighborhoods throughout the City.
I understand that the availability of affordable housing is a major issue in this city.
However, as the City Watch article pointed out:
“I don’t understand why the City Council would repeal our Zoning Code development standards for second dwellings and intentionally adopt a policy designed to insert huge, highly visible second units in the backyards of our single-family neighborhoods. It is particularly hard to understand when the second houses will be rented at rates that won’t be affordable to low-income families. And I don’t understand why the City Council would surrender its zoning authority to standards adopted in Sacramento.”
Abandoning the cities local control around second dwelling units is not the answer to the problems at hand, and would likely make things worse. Repealing this ordinance will have a lasting impact on the landscape of our neighborhoods and it is essential that it is handled in a responsible way.
You have several options to comply with the recent court ruling. There is no reason to simply discard our protective local standards. If revisions to the Second Dwelling Unit ordinance are necessary, at the very least they must be considered with adequate public outreach, not on the current “fast track” basis, so that all stakeholders have the opportunity to consider proposed changes and express their opinion.
Michelle’s article in City Watch illustrates why this must be the case.
Please oppose the ill-advised proposal to repeal the Second Dwelling Unit ordinance.
Sincerely,
| Dear Councilmember Martinez, |
I am writing to strongly encourage you to reject the proposed repeal of the City’s existing second dwelling unit ordinance.
An article published in City Watch LA this week sheds light on the damaging effect a repeal would have on the communities of Los Angeles. The article, Alert! LA Planning’s Repeal of Second Dwelling Standards Threatens your Single-Family Neighborhood,
lays out one homeowner’s experience in which a developer took advantage of the lenient state standards to build essentially a second full sized home on a lot zoned for one.
After seeing the photos and reading the story, it is evident that adopting the lenient State standards for second dwelling units poses a threat to the character and infrastructure of our neighborhoods. These neighborhoods are zoned for single family homes and a repeal of the second dwelling ordinance would create a permanent loophole that will inevitably lead to more cases like the one described in the City Watch piece.
We do not want all second dwelling units to be prohibited entirely. Rather, we are simply asking that you support the enforcement of our existing, sensible zoning standards that protect single-family neighborhoods throughout the City.
I understand that the availability of affordable housing is a major issue in this city.
However, as the City Watch article pointed out:
“I don’t understand why the City Council would repeal our Zoning Code development standards for second dwellings and intentionally adopt a policy designed to insert huge, highly visible second units in the backyards of our single-family neighborhoods. It is particularly hard to understand when the second houses will be rented at rates that won’t be affordable to low-income families. And I don’t understand why the City Council would surrender its zoning authority to standards adopted in Sacramento.”
Abandoning the cities local control around second dwelling units is not the answer to the problems at hand, and would likely make things worse. Repealing this ordinance will have a lasting impact on the landscape of our neighborhoods and it is essential that it is handled in a responsible way.
You have several options to comply with the recent court ruling. There is no reason to simply discard our protective local standards. If revisions to the Second Dwelling Unit ordinance are necessary, at the very least they must be considered with adequate public outreach, not on the current “fast track” basis, so that all stakeholders have the opportunity to consider proposed changes and express their opinion.
Michelle’s article in City Watch illustrates why this must be the case.
Please oppose the ill-advised proposal to repeal the Second Dwelling Unit ordinance.
Sincerely,