Council relents, gives mayor a say in sale of air rights to builders

In a compromise designed to appease Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, the City Council on Tuesday took the first step toward revising a law giving downtown developers a way to increase the size of their buildings.

The mayor vetoed the law last month, and the maneuver by the 15-member council on Tuesday allows them to avoid, for now, attempting to garner the 10 votes needed to override the veto.

“At this point, I don’t think an override is necessary, but the door is still open,” said Councilwoman Jan Perry, whose district includes much of downtown and would benefit from the new law.

The so-called air rights law would allow the city to sell 9 million square feet of theoretical space over the two- and three-story Los Angeles Convention Center because city zoning laws would have allowed it to be much taller.

For example, a developer that under city zoning laws could build a 13-story building could buy the rights to enough extra square feet to make it taller.

Money from such sales -- potentially totaling $200 million over many years -- would go into a fund for downtown improvements such as affordable housing, public transit and parks.

A law allowing for such transfers had been on the books for years but was cumbersome and rarely used. So in March the council passed a new version designed to expedite the process.

But Villaraigosa vetoed it, saying the law didn’t give him any say in such sales.

The city attorney sided with the council, saying that it doesn’t have to share its quasi-judicial powers over land-use issues with the mayor, and that set the stage for a possible veto attempt.

Nonetheless, the council amended the law Tuesday by a vote of 13-0 rather than pick a fight with the mayor on the eve of delicate budget negotiations that will begin later this month.

“The process worked as it should. The mayor supports the policy,” said Matt Szabo, a mayoral press secretary.

Under the new version of the law, the mayor could reject any transfer of air rights that has been approved by the council. On the other hand, the mayor could not revive a transfer that the council had rejected.

Real estate developers are a reliable source of campaign funds for politicians in the city. In that vein, the new ordinance allows both the mayor and council members to have a say over potential air rights purchases from potential campaign donors.

The council is expected to pass the amended ordinance today.

The revision was supported by the Downtown Neighborhood Council.

Carol Schatz, president of the Central City Assn., implored the City Council to act soon.

“We have developers -- not many, but some -- who are very interested in using this mechanism to go higher in that part of the city that wants density,” Schatz said. “We want to be able to use it while we still have a market interested in building.”

The council also approved a motion by Councilman Jose Huizar to expand the area where money raised by air-rights sales could be spent and what it could be spent on. Currently the funds must be spent within two miles of projects that purchase air rights. Huizar proposed making it three miles. He represents the eastern half of downtown, and a three-mile limit would make more parts of his district eligible.

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steve.hymon@latimes.com