At a special meeting of the City Council's Public Safety Committee yesterday, councilmembers voted to move forward with new (tighter) regulations on boardinghouses and group homes. The measure, known as the Community Care Facilities Ordinance, has been knocking around City Hall since 2011, but gained new life after four people were killed outside a boardinghouse in Northridge a week ago. If the measure passes the full City Council, which is set to take up the issue in January, it would redefine any house with more than three renters as a "boardinghouse," according to the LA Times. Boardinghouses are not currently allowed to operate in neighborhoods zoned for single-family houses, so they would either have to relocate or close down. Backers of the measure, including several neighborhood associations, say it will give the city more power to crack down on unsafe or unsanitary boardinghouses, not to mention close down overcrowded ones.
Opponents point out that the city already has the tools to shut down problem boardinghouses, as the Hollywood Studio District Neighborhood Council noted when they debated and rejected the measure this summer. The ordinance would also severely limit the housing choices of those who rely on group housing, such as people with disabilities or those who are recovering from drug or alcohol dependency. In response to some concerns, the draft ordinance will be updated to exclude domestic violence shelters, and will be reviewed in one year, should it be enacted. The majority of Neighborhood Councils that have weighed in are against the ordinance.
· L.A. panel backs new rules for boardinghouses, group homes [LAT]
· Boarding Housed to Death [Curbed LA]
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