Long Beach : 2 Committees Urge That Housing Law Be Shelved

Two City Council committees have recommended that Long Beach’s controversial low-income housing law be put on hold for three months while city officials try to come up with alternative programs. The law requires developers to replace or pay a fee for low-income housing units they demolish.

If the council approves the recommendation, the city would stop issuing permits to developers seeking to demolish or convert units of affordable housing. The city also would temporarily stop enforcing the requirement that developers pay replacement fees for units they demolish.

The recommendation was approved Tuesday at a joint meeting of the Housing and Neighborhoods Committee and the Legislation Committee.

Several weeks ago, Councilman Jeffrey Kellogg proposed that the council repeal the law after a state court invalidated a similar measure in San Francisco.

Dozens of developers, realtors and housing advocates turned out for the Tuesday meeting. Developers argued that the law should be repealed because it costs them too much money. Housing advocates say that a repeal would destroy the only protection the city now has for housing for poor people.