In November 2016, City of Los Angeles voters approved Measure JJJ, which added provisions to the municipal code to require developers requesting certain entitlements for residential projects to either provide affordable units or pay an in-lieu fee. These requirements generally apply to applications for Zone Changes or General Plan Amendments that increase residential density and were deemed complete on or after December 13, 2016.
Measure JJJ also required the Department of City Planning to create a program to further incentivize affordable housing near transit. Accordingly, the Transit Oriented Communities (TOC) Affordable Housing Incentive Program became effective on September 22, 2017. The program encourages affordable housing within a half mile of major transit stops by providing additional density, reduced parking, and other incentives for projects that include covenanted affordable units.
The Los Angeles Department of City Planning has released a Housing Progress Report, available for download, that showcases the housing outcomes of these measures and programs through June 30, 2018.
Highlights include:
- There was a high volume of housing units proposed in late 2016 and early 2017 — as well as a significant increase in General Plan Amendments and Zone Changes — in anticipation of Measure JJJ and Measure S.
- While housing proposed through Zone Changes and General Plan Amendments has declined since the passage of Measure JJJ, the TOC program has accounted for 19% of all units for which entitlements were filed in the past 9 months.
- To date, the TOC program has facilitated 5,571 proposed housing units — 1,145 of which are covenanted affordable.
- The TOC program has incentivized 417 Extremely Low Income (ELI) units, representing 36% of all proposed affordable units during that same period. These are available to individuals who are at the greatest risk of becoming homeless. To qualify for an ELI unit, a one-person household would be earning a salary of no more than $18,250 — or 30% of the Area Median Income.
- The average timeframe for the completion of a discretionary TOC application is 3 months, compared to 7 months for a stand-alone Density Bonus case — almost 45% faster.
Going forward, the Department will release a quarterly update to this report, as part of a broader effort to increase data transparency and analysis around policy outcomes.