When Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass issued Executive Directive 1, a key tool of her administration to prevent homelessness and create housing by fast-tracking the city’s approval of 100% affordable housing projects, her goal was to reduce the red tape and boost L.A.’s dwindling stock of affordable apartments.
But families in a rent-controlled building in Eagle Rock say Bass’ directive — which is widely known by the acronym ED1 — has created a situation that puts them at risk of losing their own affordable housing, however well-intentioned it may be.
That’s because a developer wants to demolish the 17 rent-stabilized residential units at 4319 N. Toland Way – where about 45 people live – to make way for an eight-story, 153-unit affordable housing complex.
Tenants, at a 17-unit rent controlled apartment complex that includes the original home on the Eagle Rock property seen on Thursday, April 18, 2024, are preparing to fight and save their rent-stabilized units from demolition for a fast-tracked eight-story apartment complex they say they would not be able to afford. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
The developer is seeking approval through the mayor’s ED1 streamlined approval process, which doesn’t require public hearings where affected tenants and others can weigh in – and doesn’t provide a way for an opponent to appeal if the development is approved.
The Eagle Rock apartment building is covered under the city’s Rent Stabilization Ordinance, which regulates how much rent can be increased annually on housing units built before 1978. Most, if not all, of the people who live in the building are low-income, including some who may be severely low-income.
They might be priced out of the neighborhood they’ve lived in for decades if they’re forced to move.
The residents say they’ve reached out to the mayor’s office and other elected city officials to urge them to fix what they see as a flaw in ED1.
“Do you know that you’re taking away people in affordable housing, to put up affordable housing, but then you’re going to make them homeless?” Sally Juarez, who has lived in the building since 1978, said, posing a question as if she was speaking to the mayor.
“That doesn’t make sense to us, so that’s what we’re fighting,” Juarez said.
The mayor’s office issued a statement Thursday evening suggesting that Bass is open to revising her executive directive to address the Toland Way residents’ concerns.
“Mayor Bass is working to protect and support tenants living in impacted rent-stabilized units as we build more housing to bring more Angelenos inside. The mayor has been very transparent about issuing improvements to ED1 and as these issues come up we will take action to address them, including working to implement new guardrails and design standards,” the statement from Bass’ office said.
The mayor has revised her directive once before.
When ED1 was first issued in December 2022, Bass did not specify that developers could not use her streamlined approval system to build massive affordable housing projects in single-family residential neighborhoods. But after the city received eight applications from developers to build multi-story apartments in single-family neighborhoods, Bass revised her directive to prohibit them. That set off a series of debates — including at least two lawsuits — over whether some of those earlier applications could move forward.
It was not clear late this week what would happen to the proposed project on Toland Way.
Lou Jacobs, a partner with California Landmark Group, is listed as the project applicant, along with an entity called JFP Toland LLC, according to city records. Jacobs did not respond to messages this week seeking comment for this story.
On April 18, the city’s planning department sent Jacobs and his representative a letter informing them there was a hold on processing the application due to missing information. The letter said Jacobs had 30 days to provide the information or the application would be terminated.
On Thursday, April 25, the planning department said the applicant had provided some of the missing materials but the case would remain on hold until all paperwork was completed.
Meanwhile, families in the Toland Way building remain nervous about their future and don’t know where to go if the project is approved.
“We’ll be in bad shape,” said Juan Riebeling, who has lived there with his partner, Johanna Olivares, for 20 years. The couple shares a one-bedroom apartment with their 4-year-old son.
Olivares said she’s been making plans to enroll their son in school for next fall and would have to find a new school if they move.
Jacqueline Garcia, who’s lived there nearly 16 years, said through a translator she doesn’t want to move because she’s near a bus line that takes her directly to her doctor’s office. She must see her doctor regularly because of a health condition.
Tenants say their Eagle Rock neighborhood is safe and quiet. Many of them have known each other for years, and they watch out for one another. They don’t want to lose their community, they said.
If the proposed project is allowed, residents at 4319 N. Toland Way might be able to move back in once the new units are built. But some fear the new “affordable” units would cost so much more than what they’re currently paying that returning would be impossible.
The families, who say they were not given any guarantee that they are safe from eviction, met last week with their city councilmember, Eunisses Hernandez, to ask for help.
A day later, Hernandez introduced a motion aimed at preventing the loss of rent-stabilized apartments from the city’s housing stock.
There are more than 650,000 rent-stabilized units throughout L.A., including nearly 52,000 in Council District 1, according to the motion. In Council District 1, the median rent for units that are kept affordable under the Rent Stabilization Ordinance range from $1,100 to $1,500 while market-rate units are renting for $2,657 on average in Northeast L.A.
Hernandez’s motion calls for an “interim control ordinance” that, if adopted by the City Council, would temporarily require projects in Council District 1 that impact rent-stabilized buildings to be reviewed under rules that give city officials more leeway to approve or deny the projects. That so-called “discretionary review” is not allowed under Bass’ ED1.
Hernandez’s proposal would apply to rent-stabilized buildings with five or more units that are occupied by tenants. It would remain in effect for up to two years or until “appropriate land use regulatory controls” are adopted by the City Council to provide protections for tenants in rent-stabilized apartments.
Last June, the City Council instructed the planning department to draft an ordinance to make permanent the provisions outlined in the mayor’s ED1 streamlined approval process. The council has not voted on that ordinance, but that would be an opportunity for the council to add safeguards for struggling renters.
In a statement to the Los Angeles Daily News, Hernandez said she supports speeding up the production of affordable housing through streamlining – but that it “can’t come at the expense of deeply affordable units.”
“I believe we can both preserve (rent-stabilized) units that house some of our most vulnerable residents, and clear hurdles to boost the production of new affordable housing at the same time,” she said.
Her motion has been referred to the City Council’s Planning and Land Use Management Committee for consideration.
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