Eagle Rock resident Sally Juarez has a rental home that many people in LA can only dream about.
It is a five-minute walk from busy Eagle Rock Boulevard. Even better? Rent for her two-bedroom is $560 a month, due to a city law that limits the size of rent increases in older buildings.
But Juarez’s life was turned upside down a few months ago, when she and her family learned their rental and 16 others on Toland Way in Eagle Rock were targeted for demolition to make way for new affordable housing. given. A proposal for an eight-story, 153-unit building was submitted Executive Directive 1Mayor Karen Bass’ initiative to fast-track low-cost housing approvals.
Tenant Sally Juarez holds a sign promoting the work of the Los Angeles Tenants Association, which is lobbying city leaders for the safety of her and other tenants on Toland Way.
The mayor’s initiative, part of his larger fight against homelessness, was designed to ensure that 100% of affordable housing projects are approved within 60 days, without public hearings. Tenants facing displacement from such projects say the timetable leaves them less time to organize or fight back.
Eagle Rock development is on hold, with city planners awaiting additional documents. Meanwhile, Council Member Eunice Hernandez has begun pushing for new safeguards to ensure that projects offered under the ED1 program do not result in the rapid demolition of rent-stabilized apartments in her Eastside district.
On Tuesday, the City Council – at the urging of Hernandez – voted 13-0 to direct the Department of City Planning to draft a temporary ban on the approval of affordable housing projects that result in rent-stabilized units with five or more occupants. The units were dismantled in parts. Of his district.
The moratorium sought by Hernandez would only apply to 100% affordable housing projects — the type being fast-tracked under ED1 — in parts of Chinatown and Eagle Rock. Hernandez said she chose those areas because they have a higher number of rent-controlled apartments and are facing greater eviction pressure.
Hernandez told his colleagues, “As the representative of CD1, I have to do everything in my power to try to keep people at home in my district.” “Because we have a serious eviction-to-homelessness pipeline.”
Hernandez’s spokesperson said the new rules, which must be drafted and come back for another council vote, will give the city time to develop rules that would require that 100% of affordable housing projects be for those families. Provide at least a few units of what is defined as very low income. Chelsea luckenberg.
Bass spokesman Zach Seidel did not provide the mayor’s position on Hernandez’s proposal when contacted by The Times.
“We are working to protect and support all Angelenos as more housing is built and we bring more Angelenos in,” Seidl said. “As issues arise, we will take action to address them.”
A developer has submitted an application to build a 153-unit affordable housing complex in place of 17 rent-controlled apartments on Toland Way in Eagle Rock. Council member Eunice Hernandez is pushing to put a stop to such projects.
Tuesday’s vote is the latest example of council members seeking to rein in real estate development, which would result in the destruction of rent-controlled units. In December, the city council passed a motion Council Member Kevin De Leon called for a temporary ban on the demolition of rent-controlled apartments in Boyle Heights.
That ordinance has been drafted but not yet approved by the council, said De Leon spokesman Pete Brown. Additionally, city agencies are still awaiting feedback from the state Department of Housing and Community Development, he said.
Juarez, who has lived in her home on Toland Way since 1978, said she is grateful to Hernandez for helping her neighborhood in the fight against demolition. He said security measures aimed at protecting tenants won’t be enough for him and his neighbors.
L.A. residents whose rent-controlled apartments have been demolished must be provided relocation payments, which can range from $9,900 to $24,650, depending on the tenant’s income and other factors, according to the city’s Housing Department.
Juarez, a retired school teacher, said she believes she would be eligible for about $25,000. But she said the rent is so high now that she’ll likely burn through that money in less than a year.
“There’s no way I can live anywhere in my neighborhood. There is absolutely no way. Not on my retirement,” the 71-year-old said.
Representatives of JFP Toland LLC, which is listed in city paperwork as the developer of the Toland Way project, did not respond to inquiries or declined to comment when contacted by the Times.
Under state law, low-income residents who are displaced to make way for affordable housing are also eligible to move into a comparably priced unit with the same number of bedrooms in the replacement building, said Eduardo Mendoza, policy director for Livable Communities. . Initiative, a housing and transit advocacy group.
Luckenberg, the Hernandez spokesman, said many tenants can’t realistically take advantage of that opportunity, partly because of the time it takes to build a replacement project. Tenants who move frequently have to find not only new apartments but also new schools for their children, he said — making it difficult to uproot their families a second time.
Juarez said he has no interest in moving into a replacement building. And she’s not the only tenant on the shore.
Johanna Olivares, 42, said she and her family are paying $892 a month for their apartment on Toland Way. The 20-year-old woman, who lives in the building, said the landlord had earlier offered her family cash to move out.
Tenants Johanna Olivares, 4-year-old son Emmanuel Rebelling and husband Juan Rebelling face an uncertain future if they are evicted from their rent-controlled apartment.
Appearing at Tuesday’s council meeting, Olivares urged council members to hold off on approving the new project.
“I’m a stay-at-home mom. I’m on a fixed income,” she said. “We love Los Angeles.”
A developer wants to demolish 17 apartments on Toland Way in Eagle Rock, and replace those units with a 153-unit affordable housing complex. The company wants to participate in Mayor Karen Bass’s Executive Directive 1 program, which expedites approval of such projects.
Bass launched the ED1 initiative in December 2022, during his first week in office. He signed the order To ensure that 100% affordable housing projects will be given top priority, not only in the planning department but also in the building and safety department, which reviews construction work, and in the water and power department, which oversees utility hookups. Does.
The mayor later amended the order to clarify his intention to stop approving ED1 projects on properties zoned for single-family homes.
Bass has characterized the ED1 initiative as a major success and said it has led to a flurry of applications to create affordable housing. During his recent City of the City speech, he announced that the city has reduced the permitting process for 100% affordable housing projects from six months to 35 days.
“This has resulted in more than 16,000 additional, new affordable housing units in the pipeline,” he said.
At one point last year, the mayor’s team said that 46 units of new affordable housing were being allowed under ED1 for every rent-controlled unit targeted for demolition.
Nevertheless, some tenants’ rights activists have been critical. Last year, he reported that dozens of tenants in South Los Angeles being pushed out of the apartment Targeted for demolition by developers using ED1’s fast-track process.
Johanna Olivares with her 4-year-old son Emmanuel Rebelling and husband Juan Rebelling at their home on Toland Way.
Those arguments were reiterated during Tuesday’s meeting. Some residents of Toland Way fought back tears as they described the fear of being kicked out of their apartments. Tenant advocates took aim directly at the mayor.
“I’m here today to ask you to pass this ordinance and defend these families, because the mayor is not going to do that,” tenant organizer Yaya Castillo told the council. “Let’s be clear here: Executive Directive 1 has been implemented to accelerate gentrification, by not protecting our rent-controlled units.”
Bass is seeking to turn his executive order into a permanent ordinance. Although the proposal has been endorsed by the city’s Planning Commission, it has not yet come before council.
