Proposed LA Ordinance Could Reduce Buildable Square Footage for Housing

The Los Angeles City Council’s Planning and Land Use Management Committee on Tuesday will consider an ordinance amending the Los Angeles Municipal Code to establish a Wildlife Supplemental Use District. However, in an open letter, Realtor Rick Tyberg of Douglas Elliman Real Estate – Ernie Carswell and Associates warned that the measure would have “a devastating effect on the housing market and our local economy.”

According to a summary on the City Council website, Ordinance 14-0518 would enact the following:

• Allow up to 1,000 square feet of basement area to be exempted from Residential Floor Area calculations, as long as the floor to floor height of the basement does not exceed 10 feet;

• Revise the threshold for Site Plan Review to: any Project in a Wildlife District (WLD) that creates or results in 6,000 square feet or more of Residential Floor Area;

• A proposed zone change ordinance, applying the Supplemental Use District Zone WLD to the zones of those parcels lying within the project boundaries identified in the proposed Ordinance Map CPC-2022-3712-ZC; and

• Instruct Department of City Planning staff to study and report back to the LACPC on the effectiveness of the proposed ordinance three years following the effectuation date of the ordinance, if adopted by the City Council.

“While it includes some decent protections and safety measures, it also deceptively reduces most properties’ buildable square footage by nearly 50% or more of what is currently allowable, and it will eliminate the ability to build basements entirely,” Tyberg wrote.

He urged Los Angelenos to attend the committee meeting at 2 p.m. Tuesday and ask the city “to approve the wildlife protection measures which everyone supports and stop the 50% or more reduction in allowable square footage until proper discussions and research has been done with appropriate public outreach.”