Affordable Housing Section | LADBS

New Affordable Housing Section Bringing the Housing Crisis to the Forefront On July 1, 2020, LADBS launched the Affordable Housing Section in support of Mayor Eric Garcetti’s housing initiatives that address the unprecedented housing crisis in the City. The new section will streamline the plan review process for affordable housing projects, emergency homeless shelters, and projects covered by several recently-enacted State housing crisis bills. In addition to plan review, the new section will review funding form documents.  The following projects are processed and reviewed by the Affordable Housing Section: Affordable Housing Development projects under the Mayor’s Executive Directive 13 - Support for Affordable Housing Development (ED 13): At least 20% of on-site rental units that have rents restricted to be affordable and occupied by low-income households. At least 30% of on-site for-sale units that have sales prices restricted to be affordable to and occupied by low- or moderate-income households. Emergency Homeless Shelters under Executive Directive 24 - Building "A Bridge Home" (ED 24). Housing development projects covered by SB 330. Multi-family projects covered by SB 35 (Affordable Housing Streamlined Approval). Supportive housing projects covered by AB 2162 (Supportive Housing Streamlined   Approval), California Senate Bill (SB) 330, SB 35, and Assembly Bill 2162. In addition to the regular plan submittal process, the Affordable Housing Section will offer applicants the option to submit “Zoning only” plans prior to the other requirements (i.e., fire-life safety and structural plans). Once the zoning requirements are verified, designers can proceed with the final plans avoiding changes to the structural or fire-life safety designs that may be affected by zoning regulations, thereby saving time and money.  The zoning only submittal also allows staff to review and process affordable housing funding forms and the preliminary zoning assessment form related to SB 330 projects.  Since the July 1, 2020 launch of the Affordable Housing Section, over 30 housing projects have been submitted to this new section. LADBS also created a dedicated Affordable Housing webpage that provides information, submittal options, required forms, and description of the streamlined process. Additional enhancements, including online submittal of the “Zoning only” plans through ePlanLA, are forthcoming. If you have any questions regarding your housing development project, visit the Affordable Housing webpage at https://ladbs.org/services/special-assistance/affordable-housing. COVID-19 UPDATE LADBS CONTINUES TO PROVIDE SERVICES DURING THE COVID-19 CRISIS COVID-19 will continue to be a serious community threat until a vaccine or effective therapeutic treatment become available. Until such time, the City must learn to cope with COVID-19 and find ways to prepare City departments, employees, and customers to take the appropriate precautions to prevent COVID-19 community spread. To safeguard the health and safety of both LADBS customers and staff during the crisis, the LADBS expanded its online and telephone services to include plan check verification appointments, consultations, virtual meetings, and payments. For example, LADBS has been gradually expanding the scope of ePlanLA, the online plan review system developed and implemented by LADBS in October 2019. Since its implementation, over 4,000 plans have been submitted through ePlanLA. For the month of June 2020, 17 percent of all plans were submitted electronically through ePlanLA which included 47 percent of all electrical plans, 30 percent of all mechanical plans, and 7 percent of all building plans. Currently, online plan submittal is available for ADU conversion, tenant improvements, soft-story retrofit, fences, block walls, pools, patio covers, elevators, fire sprinklers, HVAC, plumbing, photovoltaic systems, and electrical systems. Under the leadership of Mayor Eric Garcetti, and in collaboration with other Development Services Departments, the LADBS is developing plans for re-opening the public counter operations as the situation allows. LADBS will adopt the City’s staged approach to recovery. LADBS key priorities during recovery include provision of basic services, health and safety of LADBS staff and customers, and streamlining operations. As LADBS go through the stages of reopening, LADBS service levels will be based on the level of risk instead of specific dates. LADBS is preparing to operate at various capacity levels as COVID-19 risk increases or decreases. The approach for each capacity level takes into consideration the health protocols for COVID-19 vulnerable population, physical distancing guidelines, personal protective equipment (PPE) requirements, security and cleaning protocols, and public information. In response to COVID-19 and to protect the health and safety of both the construction industry workers and LADBS inspectors, LADBS issued COVID-19 Safety Guidance for Construction Sites. The guidelines are based on CDC’s Guidance for Businesses and Employers to Plan and Respond to Coronavirus Disease 2019, OSHA’s Guidance on Preparing Workplaces for COVID-19, and the Mayor's Safer at Home Order. To ensure compliance with the safety measures prescribed in the Safety Guidance, LADBS conducts COVID-19 inspections. To date, LADBS has completed over 35,000 COVID-19 inspections.   DEPARTMENT NEWS JOHN WEIGHT APPOINTED NEW EXECUTIVE OFFICER John Weight was promoted to Executive Officer in charge of the daily operations of all LADBS bureaus. Mr. Weight has over 26 years of LADBS service. Throughout his career, Mr. Weight has been instrumental in guiding several major projects to completion. Mr. Weight has led a number of innovative programs including the Restaurant and Hospitality Express Program and the Inspection Case Management Program. Mr. Weight started his City career in 1985 with the Department of Water and Power and had worked in the construction industry for a number of years. SERVICE ENHANCEMENTS CERTIFIED LICENSED CONTRACTOR PROGRAM A new City of Los Angeles ordinance took effect on June 24, 2020. The new ordinance includes additional types of work that can be installed, inspected, and certified under the Certified Licensed Contractor (CLC) Program. The CLC program allows for the installation of certain fixtures by LADBS certified contractors without going through the regular permitting process. The new ordinance expands the permissible work to include the replacement of lavatories, sinks, clothes washers, vacuum breakers, water closets, dishwashers, garbage disposals, and seismic gas shut-off valves for low pressure systems in multi-family dwelling units. The expansion will further streamline the construction process for residential buildings and make it more efficient for property owners. LADBS will continue to monitor and provide quality control for the CLC Program. LA BUILDING AND SAFETY COMMISSION FIRST WEB MEETING On Tuesday, May 5, 2020, the Los Angeles Board of Building and Safety Commissioners (BBSC) successfully held their first hearing via web conferencing. During the hearing, the BBSC, LADBS General Manager, and LADBS staff participated through video conferencing and customers were able to call in using a dedicated number. Any written communication to the BBSC should be addressed to the Board of Building and Safety Commissioners located at 201 North Figueroa Street, Suite 1030, Los Angeles, CA 90012. Public comments can be submitted online using this link: https://bit.ly/LABBSC2020. E-CHECK PAYMENTS NOW AVAILABLE On April 17, 2020, LADBS successfully implemented the electronic check payment feature on the LADBS online payment portal. This online feature provides customers with the option to pay with electronic checks in addition to the credit card option that was already available. LADBS customers may avoid the service fee imposed by credit cards companies by using e-Checks.   CONSTRUCTION ACTIVITY YEAR-TO-DATE STATISTICAL COMPARISON FOURTH QUARTERS 2018-19 AND 2019-20 AFFORDABLE/SUPPORTIVE HOUSING PROJECTS Permitted between 4/1/2020 — 6/30/2020 LA’S TOP 5 CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS Based on Construction Valuation - Permitted Between 4/1/2020 — 6/30/2020   PROJECT ADDRESS  CONSTRUCTION  VALUATION PROJECT DESCRIPTION 5500 W 98th Street $258.7 Million New construction—LAX Landside Access Modernization Program (LAMP) Consolidated Rent-A-Car (CONRAC) Customer Service Building (CSB) three story type I-A for rental car building 6151 N Radford Avenue $78.0 Million New construction—five story type III-A 481-unit apartment building 5500 W 98th Street QTA $69.3 Million New construction—LAX Landside Access Modernization Program (LAMP) Consolidated Rent-A-Car (CONRAC) Quick Turn Around (QTA) three story type I-A for auto servicing and repair building 6200 W Sunset Boulevard $55.8 Million New construction—seven story type III-A 270-unit apartment building over two levels type IA retail 11355-11377 W Olympic Boulevard $47.5 Million Modernization of two ten-story office tower with horizontal expansion connecting to each story   CONTRACT OPPORTUNITIES LADBS has a number of contracting needs for various abatements and professional services. The best way to locate opportunities to work with the City is to register your company on the Los Angeles Business Assistance Virtual Network (LABAVN) website at www.LABAVN.org. During or after registration, select any or all North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) codes that apply to your company. Once registered, LABAVN will automatically send out email notifications when bid opportunities are posted that match your company’s NAICS codes. The following is a list of upcoming solicitations LADBS plans to release on LABAVN, sorted chronologically:   COMMITMENT TO OUR CUSTOMERS Your project is important, so we strive to provide you with superb service and your feedback is important to maintaining this level of service. If you want to recognize a staff member, file a complaint, comment on the service you received, request additional assistance, or a second opinion on any plan check or inspection issues regarding your project, please provide feedback at LADBS’ website at https//ladbs.org or call (213) 482-6755. LADBS’ Customer Service Code of Conduct is posted at: https://ladbs.org/our-organization/messaging/customer-service-code-of-conduct.

Affordable Housing Section | LADBS.