The Pacific Palisades Community Council passed a motion last Thursday related to the controversial group-home ordinance that was heard before the L.A. City Council in January.
Passed unanimously, the PPCC motion opposes amending motion (31B) proposed by 7th District Councilman Richard Alarcon that seeks to eliminate certain definitions from the proposed CCFO such as “parolee-probationer home,” “boarding and rooming house” and “single housekeeping unit.”
“The amendments proposed by motion 31B to the draft CCFO are a slap in the face to single-family homeowners who have been seeking protection of their neighborhoods,” said Jennifer Malaret, secretary of the Community Council. “Motion 31B may result in a wholesale upzoning of R1 and R2 neighborhoods.”
Just to recap: the (CCFO) ordinance seeks to clarify language in the City’s current zoning code and require single-family homes with four or more leases to obtain a state license. This would also define these facilities as boarding homes and require them to abide by certain conditions, such as parking requirements (adding additional parking spaces for group home residents) and no noise disruptions for neighbors. If passed, the ordinance would also increase oversight of homes with seven or more occupants.
During the City Council meeting on January 30, Councilman Bill Rosendahl voiced his opposition to the ordinance and voted for the proposal to be sent to a working group for a 90-day review. Rosendahl also co-sponsored Alarcon’s motion, which the PPCC is calling the “gut-the-code amendment” that seeks to eliminate certain definitions from the proposed CCFO, such as “parolee-probationer” and so forth.
In PPCC’s view, the Rosendahl-Alarcon motion twists the aim of the CCFO ordinance and—if passed—would allow group homes to proliferate “by right” in single-family neighborhoods.
Furthermore, the PPCC believes that the “gut-the-code” motion would also “eliminate the current requirement for a conditional use permits for parolee-probationer homes in any residential building located in R3 or more restrictive zones.”
“I am very pleased that the PPCC motion passed,” said PPCC President Barbara Kohn. “Homeowners should be concerned about this issue because it impacts single-family neighborhoods.”
Rosendahl told the Palisadian-Post previously, “Until HUD [U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development] tells me that they are not throwing the baby out with the bathwater, I can’t vote, I vote on information I get—not politics. I have to have facts.”
The Brentwood Community Council will discuss and possibly vote on the PPCC motion, which echoes the Westside Regional Alliance of Councils motion and the Mar Vista Community Council’s stance on the issue, tonight during its monthly meeting.
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