City of Bell Looks to Increase Housing Downtown

The city of Bell is rolling out new zoning regulations in its main commercial corridor in the hope of stimulating housing growth.

The so-called New Bell District Specific Plan includes about 84.3 acres of land area located in the heart of Bell, mostly along Atlantic Avenue and East Gage Avenue, Urbanize Los Angeles reported. The development outline is part of the city’s 2021-2029 Housing Element, which calls for 229 new units of housing to be built by the end of the decade.

The New Bell District Specific Plan would help the city reach that goal, as the plan could facilitate the construction of 584 new homes by 2040. The area includes 24 opportunity sites across 16.3 acres and 49 parcels of land.

Currently, existing uses at the site include 133,000 square feet of commercial space, 35,000 square feet of vacant buildings, 20 hotel rooms and 13 homes. Those could all disappear to make way for housing, though no projects are currently proposed.

Zoning regulations would cap buildings at four and five stories in height, including mixed-use structures with ground-floor commercial space. Other parts of the plan include the redevelopment of existing commercial buildings into park spaces, the closure of streets to create public plazas, the addition of linear park spaces and other aesthetic and logistical improvements to the Atlantic and Gage site.

The city of Bell was at the center of a high-profile public funds misappropriation and corruption scandal more than a decade ago. A Los Angeles Times investigation in 2010 found that Bell city officials received exorbitantly high salaries that were reported as the highest in the nation.

Subsequent investigations found unusually high property tax rates for Bell residents — more than those in Beverly Hills — and allegations of voter fraud in municipal elections that exempted city leaders from state salary limits.

Pressure grew on the officials to resign, leading to a 2011 special election to recall several leaders. In the end, seven Bell city officials, including former mayor Oscar Hernandez, former city administrator Robert Rizzo, assistant city administrator Angela Spaccia and four city council members were convicted on graft and corruption charges. They were given sentences ranging from probation to 12 years in prison.

— Chris Malone Méndez