Los Angeles Council Member Paul Koretz sent a newsletter this week regarding 9 bills being proposed that prove to be of great concern to the community of Hollywood and Los Angeles as a whole. We offer our reply and Paul Koretz’s full letter below. Please TAKE ACTION and let your voice be heard in this matter!

HOLLYWOOD MUST TELL STATE LEGISLATURE TO VOTE NO!

BAD HOUSING BILLS ARE NOT A SOLUTION 

Hollywood Heritage believes that it is part of our mission to inform our members, supporters and the public about issues that affect the protection of historic resources in Hollywood and throughout Los Angeles.  To this end, Hollywood Heritage was opposed to SB50, a state senate bill proposed by Sen. Scott Weiner from San Francisco, which would have had the effect of eliminating single family residential zoning throughout the state in an effort to address our California’s housing crisis. Hollywood heritage saw this for what it really was, a formula for the continued erosion of the remaining historic single-family neighborhoods in central Hollywood while doing little to address affordable housing.  SB50 was defeated by the combined opposition of southern California legislators after hearing from homeowners, neighborhood associations, preservationists and anti-gentrification activists. 

Not taking NO for answer, earlier this year the state senate and assembly crafted 9 bills, the “sons of SB50”, which attempt to usurp local control over planning and zoning.  These bills SB 1120, SB902, SB995, SB1085, AB725, AB1279, AB 2345, AB3040, and AB 3107, will have serious repercussions on the future development of Hollywood, circumventing local authority, community plans, historic districts and more importantly silencing community input or opposition. 

Let us be clear, Hollywood Heritage is not a NIMBY organization. Throughout the years we have worked with developers, championed projects, and share a vision of a revitalized Hollywood for all, while tirelessly advocating for the protection of historic Hollywood and built environment.  We also understand that there is an AFFORDABLE housing crisis.  Hollywood has seen tens of thousands of market rate luxury housing units constructed in the last few decades, often at the expense of historic single and multi-family housing, which according to the LA Conservancy’s recent study Preservation Positive, is the prime source of affordable housing in Los Angeles.  Hollywood cannot afford to let state legislators call the shots and destroy the progress we have made. We urge you to use the links and resources below to educate yourself on these bills and contact your state legislators to tell them to vote NO on these bad bills! NO to the end of local control of planning and zoning, NO to the construction of more luxury units at the expense of affordable housing, NO to the destruction of historic resources and NO to the silencing of Hollywood and its communities! Thank you!

This is a reproduction of a current public announcement from Los Angeles City Council Member Paul Koretz and does not necessarily reflect any public policy on the part of Hollywood Heritage, Inc., its Board of Directors, Advisory Board, staff or members and supporters and is being distributed as an Information Only document.

COUNCILMEMBER PAUL KORETZ LETTER

HELP NEEDED! LEGISLATURE CONSIDERING 9 BAD PLANNING BILLS

To complement Paul Koretz’s call to action, we also wanted to include two letters written by Hollywood Heritage Board Member Brian Curran for the Larchmont Chronicle. It is a two part series speaking to the issues of the bill.