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Long Beach could bolster inclusionary housing law
Tweaks meant to preserve affordable units, promote more development for very low-income tenants
The Long Beach City Council is considering some tweaks to the city’s young inclusionary housing laws.
The City Council voted this week to instruct city staff and the city attorney to draw up changes to the municipal ordinance, according to the Long Beach Press Telegram.
The city adopted its inclusionary housing law in January. It required developers to either include a percentage of deed-restricted affordable units in their new developments or to pay into a pool to fund affordable units elsewhere in Long Beach.
The central proposed change to the law regards the categories of affordable units built through the fund. Affordable housing is divided into units set aside for certain income levels, including “low-income” and “very low-income.”
A draft amendment to the measure would restrict the housing fund tovery low-income housing, which is offered to prospective tenants with no more than 50 percent of area median income, or $59,100 for a family of four in Long Beach.
The amendment would also put new restrictions on the sale of property used for inclusionary housing with a goal of keeping affordable units in perpetuity.
That change was one of a handful proposed by advocates when the city passed its measure in January.
The city would also require no-net-loss units — new units that replace units demolished for new developments — to be replaced on site. So if a developer demolishes a 10-unit apartment complex to build a much larger development, they must include 10 affordable units in that new project.
Councilwoman Suzie Price also wants the city to consider promoting the development of so-called workforce housing in the city. Workforce housing, or middle-income housing, is reserved for households typically with incomes around or just above the median income of an area.
[LBPT] —Dennis Lynch