LOS ANGELES — Closing out her first workweek in office, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass issued a sweeping directive Friday requiring city departments to rid their procedures of the bottlenecks that slow development of affordable housing and shelters.
Bass’ first executive directive instructs the departments responsible for processing affordable housing and shelter applications to complete all reviews within 60 days. Such reviews typically take six to nine months, city officials said.
Another key element waives discretionary reviews on projects that do not require zoning changes. Currently those reviews, which can include public hearings and additional environmental reports, are required on all projects of 50 units or more. To avoid those reviews, developers have often planned projects of 49 units when the zoning would have allowed more.
