Housing Authority to address affordable housing
The Housing Authority will once again discuss how to create more affordable housing units in Glendale following a previous meeting where its members said rent control likely won’t be an option.
At the meeting on Tuesday, authority members will be presented with an eight-point plan outlining various ways to combat the speedy ascent of local rent prices.
The city’s median monthly rent rate was $1,309 in 2014. More than 60% of local residents are renters and 57% of them are cost-burdened, meaning they spend at least a third of their income on rent, according to a city staff report.
Mayor Paula Devine, who is an authority member, said rent control probably isn’t right for Glendale.
Dozens of landlords spoke at the last authority meeting and said they’ve been raising rents reasonably to keep up with maintenance costs. Implementing rent control would hurt them, although the intent would be geared toward predatory landlords who significantly spike rents, city officials said.
“This is a complicated issue because there really is no perfect solution,” Devine said. “The only real solution is more housing, more affordable housing and that’s something that the city is really working hard toward.”
One of the elements of the eight-point plan includes implementing a new development-impact fee similar to one levied on developers that went toward a park fund. Instead, the new impact fee would be geared toward affordable-housing projects.
Another option would be to draft and adopt a citywide inclusionary zoning ordinance, meaning a requirement for allocating certain units in new residential projects for affordable housing, but that’s currently only allowed for ownership units, not rentals.
“Currently, there are discussions of state legislation being proposed to address this; however, it is too soon to assess,” according to a city staff report. “There is a possibility, and a practice by some agencies, that inclusionary zoning can be applied to new construction rental projects (without violating court rulings), but only when such projects require rezoning and/or General Plan amendments.”
The idea of implementing a business license fee for multifamily property owners — similar to what Burbank and Pasadena have — has been discussed for Glendale. Although this option does not create affordable housing, it would generate funds to conduct apartment building inspections to ensure tenants have access to safe and sanitary living units.
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Arin Mikailian, arin.mikailian@latimes.com
Twitter: @ArinMikailian
