Rolling Hills Weighs Rentals to Meet Fair-Housing Laws

The Rolling Hills City Council is considering permitting the construction of a total of nine rental units on private property in order to comply with state fair-housing policies requiring cities to encourage low- and moderate-income housing.

The city, an exclusive, gated residential community where houses on one- and two-acre lots sell for between $2 million and $3 million, finds itself in a difficult situation, said Mayor Ginny Leeuwenberg in a telephone interview.

Presently, Rolling Hills laws forbid rental units.

A revision and update of the city’s General Plan, begun last year, has shown the need to change the housing element of the plan to comply with state law. The change, as proposed by Cotton/Beland Associates of Pasadena with which the city contracted to work on the plan, calls for an adjustment in city laws allowing the construction and rental of nine units that would be rented at “affordable” rates that meet state guidelines.

“I wonder just how we can provide low- and moderate-income housing in our city or for that matter anywhere on the hill,” Councilwoman Jody Murdock said.

The plan, which the council expects to approve after a public hearing at its next meeting on Monday,would allow the units to be built on private residential property--one unit per property. Individual property owners would decide whether or not to build a rental unit on their land. The precise terms of rental agreements, the size of the unit and who would qualify to rent the units are yet to be determined by ordinance.

City Manager Terrence Belanger told the council that it is the city’s responsibility to find ways to encourage low- and moderate-income housing, but it’s “up to the private sector to determine if we’re really going to meet the goal.”

“It’s a thorny, difficult problem,” Leeuwenberg said in the interview. “This is not a problem that is going to be easily solved. If we pass an ordinance, there’s no guarantee” that anyone is going to build a rental unit.