COMMUNITY BUILDING & YOUR VOICE

What is the Housing Element,

​why you should care,

​and what you can do about it. 

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NEWS:
​April 21, 2022: Culver City Housing element was rejected by HCD for a second time time.
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​The State of California's Housing and Community Development Division of Housing Development Division (HCD) issued their second rejection of Culver City's Housing Element (HE). Culver City Neighbors United is still analyzing what this means. We'll let you know what you can do as soon as we've completed our analysis.

Of particular note, is that the City of Culver City is officially out of compliance. The 6th element was due on October 15, 2021. 

In its letter, HCD was very clear that comments from stakeholders and members from the community were taken very seriously (That's YOU! Thank you for writing letters!) . Furthermore HCD said that public participation is essential. This is something that many of us have been saying all along. Instead, council majority pushed their unpopular agenda without properly notifying and engaging the public. Most notably, HCD said:

"...HCD considered comments from several stakeholders and members of the community (listed in Appendix B)...Public participation in the development, adoption and implementation of the housing element is essential to effective housing planning. Throughout the housing element process, the City should continue to engage the community, including organizations that represent lower-income and special needs households, by making information regularly available and considering and incorporating comments where appropriate. Additionally, pursuant to Government Code section 65585, subdivision (b) (AB 215, Statutes of 2021), any subsequent draft revision, the local government must post the draft revisions on its website and email a link to all individuals and organizations that have previous requested notices related to local governments housing element at least seven days before resubmitting to HCD."

We'll keep you posted as to what to do next! Meanwhile, you can read the full document HERE.

Council Rushes to Pass the Housing Element

The Monday, January 24th City Council meeting marked the official day that the city council majority showed that they hold contempt for the public and the democratic process. Under the helm of the new mayor Dr. Daniel Lee and instigated by Councilmember Alex Fisch, the council majority forced a yes vote on the Housing Element (upzoning all of R1 neighborhoods) -- without deliberation or allowing Councilmember Goran Eriksson or Vice Mayor Albert Vera to speak. This was because Mayor Lee had to catch a late flight for a justifiable personal matter. Instead of postponing the meeting (as Lee offered and Vera agreed to), Fisch used a legal maneuver to force the vote.  (The video can be found on the city’s Youtube channel at the 5:06 marker https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KuavqsIh0CQ&ab_channel=CityofCulverCity)   READ MORE HERE...

Facts and Trust

December 14, the Culver City Democratic Club held a “State of the City” online event with outgoing Mayor Alex Fisch. During the Q&A section, Mr. Fisch called into question the city’s work on our state-mandated Housing Element, which is currently up for review by HDC. 

When a constituent asked him why Christopher Elmendorf, a UC Davis law professor would write a November 2020 email that he was on calls with Culver City officials who “want guidance on how to write a prohousing housing element,” and that they are “trying to monitor and control their consultants,” Mr. Fisch made some misstatements about the hiring of Raimi + Associates. Raimi + Associates is the consultant team who was contracted by the City to work on the General Plan Update  (GPU) and Housing Element. 

Specifically, Mr. Fisch said, “… there were no competitive bids. We didn't get two responses to our RFPs. Not one.” 
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This is a factually inaccurate account. READ MORE...

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Save R1/Single-Family Zoning

Solving our affordable housing crisis requires thoughtful, effective, and community-building solutions. 
​We can preserve single-family homes and support paths to affordable and equitable housing for all. 
​​

We did the math. Tearing down homes in R1 zoning and building fourplexes doesn't pencil out. This will not be affordable housing.

​Watch our video to see why.

Culver City Council:

​Do not eliminate R1/single-family zoning in Culver City.

REALITY CHECK:

Eliminating Single-Family Homes in Culver City WILL NOT LEAD TO Affordable New Housing. 
Land prices are too high. Lots are too small. No builder wants to lose money!

Who We Are

We're a brand new coalition of neighbors. We are a group of Culver City neighbors from all areas of the city. We are concerned about the affordable housing crisis. We believe that our city can meet the challenges of providing affordable and equitable housing for all who need it.  We know that eliminating R1/single-family zoning will not solve the problem. In fact, it could make it worse.