Some of L.A.’s largest proposed developments will officially be at risk for stoppage come March, when voters will decide whether to pass the anti-development Neighborhood Integrity Initiative.
The L.A. City Council voted Friday to put the initiative on the ballot, Curbed reported. The City Clerk’s office verified that 100,000-some signatures required for the initiative to be put up for a vote were indeed collected this summer.
If the majority of Angelenos vote in support of the initiative, a two-year moratorium would be imposed on all developments that require zoning amendments, putting many major projects in the firing line.
The group backing the initiative, the Coalition to Preserve L.A., has raised more than $1 million in the first eight months of 2016, the bulk of which came from the AIDS Healthcare Foundation.
But it won’t be an easy fight.
Six of out of L.A.’s 15 council members have voiced support for the opposing group, the Coalition to Protect L.A. Neighborhoods & Jobs. Bankrolled by developers such as billionaire Eli Broad, this motley crew of affordable housing advocates, labor groups and business organizations are waging an aggressive campaign against the initiative, claiming it would worsen L.A.’s affordable housing crisis.
“It’s probably the largest, broadest coalition our city has seen in response to an election initiative,” Josh Komensky, the group’s spokesperson, told The Real Deal in August.
“People who do not agree on other issues are coming together to put a stop to this.” [Curbed] — Cathaleen Chen