LA City Council Exempts Affordable Projects from Site Plan Review

The Los Angeles City Council has voted to exempt affordable housing projects from the Site Plan Review process, which is expected to save zoning-compliant affordable housing projects an average of six months’ processing time. The exemption is part of Mayor Karen Bass’ Executive Directive 1, intended to accelerate the pace and lower the cost of building affordable and temporary housing 

“The Los Angeles Business Council study shows that we’re missing more than 11,000 units of housing that were planned but never built because of Site Plan Review delays,” said City Council President Paul Krekorian. “And that’s not counting projects that never reached the planning stage because the review process was too daunting.” 

The amendment makes a focused portion of Executive Directive 1 permanent. LA City Planning is expected to submit a draft ordinance within 90 days for codifying the remainder of the directive.