Council doesn’t want to see South LA gentrified either

The Los Angeles City Council approved plans last week that will guide real estate development in the South L.A. and Southeast L.A. neighborhoods while slowing gentrification.

The decision followed an L.A. Council Planning and Land Use Management Committee meeting where dozens of activists and residents testified, Southern California Public Radio reported.

Council member Curren Price said the city incorporated roughly 80 percent of the recommendations set forward by the coalition of groups called United Neighbors in Defense Against Displacement. The city did not adopt a recommendation to incentivize projects to set aside discounted retail space for local businesses.

The new South L.A. plan will allow for the building of 15,000 new housing units for over 43,000 people over the next two decades. Joe Donlin, who leads anti-displacement nonprofit Strategic Actions for a Just Economy, said the vote represents a “triumph that the community should be celebrating.”

Under the Ellis Act, which allows landlords to evict tenants once they claim they are exiting the rental business, roughly 1,150 families in both neighborhoods have been displaced. Other longtime residents have seen their rents skyrocket as developers look to build in the cheaper neighborhoods. Among these projects that are causing concern are the controversial Reef project now up for sale and the 1,063-unit project headed for 2222 Figueroa. [SCPR] – Natalie Hoberman