Builder’s Remedy Developments are COMING to the Palos Verdes Peninsula.
On Wednesday, February 7, 2024, Palos Verdes Estates (PVE) residents flocked to the multi-purpose room of Lunada Bay Elementary School, despite inclement weather, for a special city council meeting and town hall. This was held to gain input from the public on potential sites to be included in PVE’s required housing element which must be submitted to California’s Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD).
The housing element is one of nine components of every city’s general plan, a local government’s blueprint for meeting the community’s vision for the future. The housing element must be updated on an eight-year schedule and approved by the HCD.
The standing-room-only crowd was approximately 400 and the meeting began a few minutes after 6:00 P.M. with the Pledge of Allegiance.
The PVE city council, city manager, staff, and consultants involved in drafting the Housing Element sat on stage. Prior to public comment councilman James Roos advised the audience that an acceptable housing element is important. To exemplify this, he cited a recent proposal in Rancho Palos Verdes (RPV) by a developer to build four 11-story buildings with 482 units on five acres in the Silver Spur Canyon. (savethecanyon.net)
(Artist rendition of the construction site and buildings)
(Source: Neighborhood voices of Silver Spur - https://savethecanyon.net)
Roos explained the developer is using “builder’s remedy”, a state law that allows building projects of any height and size almost anywhere in cities without a state approved housing element plan. He continued that since PVE, like RPV, does not have an approved plan, something similar can be built in PVE, and that is why this must be resolved quickly.
According to the HCD website the City of Rolling Hills plan was accepted November 23, 2022; the Rolling Hills Estates plan was accepted May 24, 2023; and RPV has had two plans rejected by HCD and submitted a third plan on February 6, 2024, which is under review. Results of that review are expected by March 22, 2024.
The audience then expressed their thoughts. Many spoke on behalf of Saint Francis Church and the Town & Country nursery school located on the Saint Francis campus. None were in favor of inclusion in the housing element. Neighbors and congregants of the First Church of Christ, Scientist advised it would decrease their home values and be disruptive to their neighborhood if included. Lunada Bay residents explained the Patio Building’s commercial importance to their community and do not want to adversely affect that. Malaga Cove residents voiced opposition to their neighborhood being in the plan. Several speakers cautioned against continually sending politicians to Sacramento who pass legislation removing local control from municipalities.
After almost three hours with 48 speakers articulating why certain properties should not be included in the housing element plan there was a short recess.
The city council then convened their meeting. Discussion ensued regarding what properties should be included to fulfill their 199 units plus a 15% buffer obligation of 30 units, numbers mandated by the HCD.
These are the property locations selected for inclusion in the sixth cycle Housing Element: Malaga Cove, westernmost portion of Malaga Cove area accessed from Tejon Place, 17 units; Lunada Bay Patio Area, 17 units; First Church of Christ, Scientist, 92 units; accessory dwelling units (ADU) 80; and 41 vacant single-family lots.
PVE City hall area in Malaga Cove (western portion accessed from Tejon Place)
Lunada Bay patio area
First Church of Christ, Scientist
Details for the three locations are provided below:
Source: City of Palos Verdes Estates - 17 units with 11 units for the very low/low-income and six units for the moderate-income ranges.
Source: City of Palos Verdes Estates - 17 units with 11 units for the very low/low-income and six units for the moderate-income ranges.
Source: City of Palos Verdes Estates - 92 units with 60 units for the very low/low and 32 for the moderate-income ranges.
These properties will be re-zoned, meaning property owners are then able to build more housing units on their property if certain criteria are met, such as some units being low cost. They are not obligated to do this. 130 of the units are in the very low-income category, defined as 30% of the area median income.
The U. S. Census Bureau lists PVE median household income for 2018-2022 to be $224,776.
PVE advised the ADU figure is an estimate based on recent historical permits.
Readers can go to the PVE city website pvestates.org to keep current on the housing element status, which the city plans to submit in late March 2024.
PVP Watch’s Opinion
It appears to PVP Watch the California state government is using “builder’s remedy” like a cudgel to beat cities into submission if they do not comply with the onerous laws our state legislators have passed. Zoning and other local control laws are meant to be made in our city halls by men and women familiar with their communities, not by politicians in Sacramento most of who have never been in our neighborhoods. Residents of the Peninsula must remember that unless there is a change in our state legislature this overreaching trend will continue. Vote accordingly!
Besides electing more reasonable state legislators the other option to return local control to our city councilors and mayors is to support Our Neighborhood Voices. Volunteers for this statewide initiative passed out literature to the town hall attendees regarding how to support this critical movement. It is designed to wrest some power from the state and bring it back to our localities. The website is ourneighborhoodvoices.com. Visit it!