Alarcon Criticized for Blocking Valley Projects : Development: The L.A. councilman concedes he has high standards for low-income housing in 7th District.

Since taking office last year, Los Angeles City Councilman Richard Alarcon has doggedly pressured developers of low-income housing to upgrade proposed projects in his district in hopes of making them community landmarks instead of neighborhood eyesores.

But in the process, developers say, he has killed some good projects and made them hesitant to offer others in his northeast San Fernando Valley district, a blue-collar community with a dire need for low-income housing.

“We are looking to rehabilitate earthquake-damaged properties but we have heard from others that it’s very hard to get his support,” said one Los Angeles-based developer of affordable housing.

In the past six months, Alarcon has scuttled at least two low-income housing projects, including a plan by nationally prominent Habitat for Humanity to build 11 low-income units in Mission Hills.

“He said the project did not conform with his personal idea for land-use,” said Pete Baron, the group’s operations manager. “Our concern was that we got so far downstream before he made his philosophy known.”

Other developers say they are reluctant to build in the 7th District because Alarcon has an unwritten rule that he will work only with firms based in his district or firms that will enter partnerships with local nonprofit groups.

For his part, Alarcon concedes that he has high standards for low-income housing, but says he has no qualms about scaring away developers who are unable to build projects that meet his demands.

“I am hard on some” developers, he said. “If someone wants to criticize me for being hard on some, then go ahead. . . . (But) by the time I’m done with a project it is going to be a project that the community needs.”

As for allegations that he will work only with local developers, Alarcon said he prefers working with local nonprofit groups but has no hard-and-fast rule.

Low-income housing is a vital issue in Alarcon’s district, where 26% of residents live in severely overcrowded conditions, a statistical measure defined as households with more than 1.5 people in each room, according to the 1990 census. Only three other council districts in South-Central and East Los Angeles have worse overcrowding, according to the census.

The demand for inexpensive housing has also become crucial in the Valley since the Northridge quake severely damaged about 50,000 housing units citywide, including 931 units in the district.

Housing officials define low-income housing as units that a family that earns only 80% of the county’s median income of $38,000 can afford without spending more than 30% of its total income.

Alarcon’s philosophy is crucial because city housing officials make it a practice to get the approval of each council member before funding a housing project within his or her district, thereby making council members the gatekeepers for housing in the city.

According to Gary Squier, head of the city’s Housing Department, Alarcon has thus far been the most aggressive of all council members in scrutinizing proposed housing projects. He has demanded that developers include added amenities, such as extra parking, he said.

“To work in the 7th District, you need to demonstrate to the council that you are building housing plus,” Squier said.

Alarcon voiced his no-compromise philosophy in October when planning and housing officials proposed an ordinance to give developers incentives to build more low-income housing.

The incentive program, which would eliminate the need for public review by allowing administrative approval, would include more relaxed parking and height standards for developers who provide a minimum number of low-income units. The program is designed to streamline the approval process for low-income housing.

At a hearing on the matter, Alarcon opposed the idea, saying it would take away the city’s powers to scrutinize each project on a case-by-case basis. The council is expected to vote on the law within the next two weeks.

“How can we not look at each individual case?” he asked housing officials. “It’s been my observation that whenever we give up on these kinds of things, the developer doesn’t give a damn about building roughshod housing.”

In an interview, Alarcon said that despite his get-tough philosophy, low-income housing continues to be built in his district. Since he took office in June, 1993, developers have built or rehabilitated 213 low-income housing units in his district, a total exceeded in only three other council districts.

He proudly pointed to two low-income projects currently proposed for his district, projects that he said include extra amenities due to the pressure he put on developers. One is an 88-unit project in Lake View Terrace that will include a long-needed library. The other is a 53-unit project in North Hills to include a community center.

And despite his high standards, Alarcon said, he thinks he is still allowing developers to build enough low-income housing to meet his district’s needs.

One development that didn’t meet Alarcon’s standards was Habitat for Humanity’s Mission Hills project.

Baron said Alarcon seemed supportive of the plan several months ago, but ended his support about a month ago when neighborhood opposition to the project caused the councilman to re-examine it.

To buy the vacant property for the project, Baron said, the group needed a $550,000 loan from the city. But housing officials made it clear to him that he wouldn’t get the loan without Alarcon’s support.

Alarcon said residents opposed the project because the two-story condominium plan was out of place for the neighborhood.

About six months ago, Alarcon scuttled other plans by a Los-Angeles based nonprofit organization to rehabilitate a quake-damaged apartment building in Pacoima and convert it into a 35-unit low-income housing project.

The head of the organization said Alarcon opposed a $1-million city loan to his group because the councilman preferred to work with local organizations.

“We thought we were addressing what was a priority in the area,” said the developer, who like others asked not to be identified for fear of jeopardizing future projects.

However, an Alarcon representative said he rejected the project because it was “ugly” and the developer tried to rush the councilman into endorsing it.

Housing development in Alarcon’s district has also generated some controversy because Alarcon’s former campaign manager, James Acevedo, heads Neighborhood Empowerment & Economic Development Inc., or NEED, a North Hills-based nonprofit group that has won several city contracts, including a $1.8-million loan to build the Library Village housing project in Lake View Terrace.

Some developers say there is an unspoken understanding that Alarcon prefers developers who team up with Acevedo’s group.

Alarcon said he does not oppose developers from outside his district, but would rather “empower” local groups by involving them in building low-income housing.