Judge Upholds L.A.'s Transit-Oriented Communities Guidelines
- William Fulton
- Aug 17, 2021
- 3 min read
A Los Angeles judge has upheld the City of Los Angeles’s transit-oriented communities (TOC) guidelines, saying they do not conflict with the 2016 ballot measure that created the TOC program.
The Fix The City organization, whose members include longtime homeowner activists that have sought to limit growth, challenged the way the TOC guidelines were applied to two development projects – a 120-unit apartment complex at Santa Monica and Beverly Glen boulecards near Century City and a 46-unit apartment building near the intersection of Olympic and San Vicente Boulevards in the Cathay Circle neighborhood.
But Superior Court Judge Mitchell Beckloff ruled against Fix The City, saying the guidelines – promulgated in 2017 after the passage of Measure JJJ – in fact conform to the actual ballot measure.
Measure JJJ was adopted in 2016 with strong support from labor leaders in Los Angeles. It subjects general plan amendments to two requirements: First, that qualified and trained construction workers be used on the project; and, two, that projects with 10 or more units comply with an affordable housing requirement. JJJ also created a “transit-oriented communities affordable housing overlay” establishing a TOC affordable housing incentive program. JJJ directed the city’s planning director, Vince Bertoni, to prepare program guidelines for the TOC affordable housing incentive program. The TOC option would be available only within a half-mile of major transit lines.
The TOC guidelines adopted the following year created a four-tiered structure for incentive awards and permitted ministerial approval for projects seeking only increases in density and decreases in parking. Projects seeking additional incentives required discretionary approval. According to a recent UCLA paper, the TOC has program has been a “major driver” of affordable housing in Los Angeles since the guidelines were adopted.