Long Beach : Weaker Law on Low-Cost Housing Gets First Reading
The Long Beach City Council gave preliminary approval Tuesday to an ordinance that urges developers to replace or rehabilitate low-cost housing but does not require them to do so.
The ordinance, scheduled to receive a final reading next week, is considerably weaker than the controversial law that was repealed in February, which required developers to replace any affordable housing they knocked down on a one-for-one basis.
The law passed 7 to 2, with Councilmen Clarence Smith and Evan Anderson Braude dissenting, saying that a voluntary law was not enough to protect the city’s many low-income residents.
Councilman Jeffrey A. Kellogg, who helped draft the ordinance, said any stronger law might drive developers out of town.
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