HHA Members, Sunday July 24: here’s an even more up-to-date post https://hollywoodland.org/granny-apartments-plum-letters-now-before-break/
Dear Hillside Federation Friends,
The concept of single-family residential areas is under threat. If the existing ordinance is repealed everyone could build a 1,200-square-foot second dwelling on their property, even in R-1 in the hillsides where it is currently prohibited. These units are familiarly known as granny flats but could be rented to anyone or rented on Airbnb.
City Council is moving at rapid speed to repeal the City’s Second Dwelling Unit ordinances, without adequate outreach to the City’s neighborhoods. On May 12, 2016, the City Planning Commission approved the Planning Department’s recommendation to repeal the ordinances. On Tuesday June 7, 2016, the City Council PLUM Committee will hold a public hearing on the repeal proposal. If the PLUM Committee votes to approve the repeal ordinance, the full City Council could repeal the ordinances soon.
If the Second Dwelling Unit ordinances are repealed, the prohibitions on second dwelling units in Hillside Areas and on substandard streets would be abolished. Instead, the state law default standards would apply, thereby allowing a 1,200 square foot second dwelling unit on virtually every single-family residential lot in the City, with only minimal development standards.
The Hillside Federation urges you to write Councilman Jose Huizar, the chair of the PLUM Committee, and voice your opposition to the repeal of the Second Dwelling Unit ordinances. Please urge him to require the Planning Department staff to provide a more complete analysis of the pros and cons of repealing the City’s standards and defaulting to the state standards and the options available to the City to comply with State law. I hope the member associations will reach out to their individual members and ask them to write Councilman Huizar and their council members.
Here is a proposed sample letter/email WHICH you would customize if you like and send to
PLUM Legislative assistant:
Sharon.Dickinson@lacity.org &
Jose Huizar, Chair: councilmember.huizar@lacity.org
Dear Councilman Huizar:
The Federation of Hillside and Canyon Associations, Inc., recently voted to oppose the City’s proposed repeal of Los Angeles Municipal Code Sections 12.24.W.43 and 12.24.W.44 and to instead retain the protections embedded within those code sections, particularly the prohibition on second dwelling units in Hillside Areas and on substandard streets. We are particularly concerned that the City Council is rushing the proposed repeal without giving our City’s neighborhoods and residents an adequate opportunity to provide their input.
The repeal of the Second Dwelling Unit ordinances would result in the state’s default standards for second dwelling units applying in every neighborhood in the City. This “one size fits all” approach is the wrong land use policy for a City with so many different neighborhoods and will have a negative and lasting impact on our single-family neighborhoods. A major policy decision such as the repeal of the Second Dwelling Unit ordinances should be considered only after a thorough study of the potential neighborhood impacts and the options available to the City.
The Hillside Federation urges you to delay any action by the PLUM Committee until it has received a full analysis of the options that the City has to comply with state law, the policy implications of repealing the Second Dwelling Unit ordinances, and the potential negative impacts to our neighborhoods.
Sincerely,
YOUR NAME