H-16 Correspondence – Natalie Hernandez
From: Natalie Hernandez [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Tuesday, February 8, 2022 1:09 PM
To: Mary Zendejas <[email protected]>; Cindy Allen <[email protected]>; Suzie Price <[email protected]>; Daryl Supernaw <[email protected]>; Stacy Mungo <[email protected]>; Suely Saro <[email protected]>; Roberto Uranga <[email protected]>; Al Austin <[email protected]>; Mayor <[email protected]>; Rex Richardson <[email protected]> Cc: Ray Morquecho <[email protected]>; Connor Lock <[email protected]>; Jack Cunningham <[email protected]>; Barbara Moore <[email protected]>; Summer Smith <[email protected]>; Chork Nim <[email protected]>; Celina Luna <[email protected]>; Jonathan Kraus <[email protected]>; Diana Tang <[email protected]>; CityClerk <[email protected]>; Matthew Hamlett <[email protected]> Subject: Fwd: Proposed 2021-2029 Housing Element Update Adoption Hearing at Tuesday, Feb. 8 City Council Meeting
-EXTERNAL-
Dear Mayor and Councilmembers,
I am writing to support the adoption of the City of Long Beach's Housing Element (2021-2029). I ask for immediate implementation on many of the actions proposed, and particularly want to note one section below.
1. In the "Housing Needs Summary", data shows Long Beach as a city that has 61% of renters with Black and Latino renter households more likely to be rent-burdened (20% and 12%) than white renter households, and having the highest rates of rentership (76% and 71%). In a city that is majority-renter, there should be more programs to assist in first-time homeownership.
2. In Action 3.3.3 there is a call to establish homeowner assistance programs with Recovery Act Stimulus funds in 2021 - 2022, but that has not occurred yet.
The Housing Element needs strong and swift implementation, I fear many of the suggestions like the one above in the element are already being outpaced by the Long Beach housing market controlled by investors and realtors. For example, the City needs to actively work with local realtors to shift local renters to first-time homebuyers. The market is currently out of control and pushing out long-time Long Beach renters and potential homebuyers.
I can personally speak to barriers to homeownership as a Latinx resident. My family and I were in the process of buying a home for about all of 2021, and one barrier was being constantly overbid by all cash investors in North Long Beach flipping properties (e.g. Olive 1, Olive 2, Plenty, 52nd, Cerritos, Osgood), even overbid by Zillow. I see in the Housing Element, there are no policy guardrails to limit investor speculation. Another barrier I haven't seen addressed is incentivizing sellers to prioritize first- time homebuyers (even for new developments like those on Atlantic Ave and Long Beach Blvd).
More work needs to be done on the above barriers, but I hope the downpayment assistance program proposed in the element will be one tool to give local residents a pathway to homeownership. Though without immediate implementation of the Housing Element, Long Beach will continue to be a city of
renters and workers that live here will have to move farther away outside the city to commute to their jobs.
Thank you,
Natalie M. Hernandez
Council District 9 Member
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/nataliemhernandez
On Tue, Jan 25, 2022 at 4:37 PM Long Beach Development Services <[email protected]> wrote:
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On Tuesday, Feb. 8, the City Council will hold an adoption hearing on the Proposed 2021-2029 Housing Element plan. The proposed project involves an update to the Housing Element (6 th Cycle), a required element of the City’s General Plan. The
document sets goals, objectives and policies for housing citywide. It establishes a roadmap for accommodating projected housing u nit demand for existing and future residents over the next eight years. As required by state law, the document shows how the City can accommodate demand for housing at all income levels, including through future rezoning of properties consistent with the a dopted Land Use Element (LUE) of the General Plan.
Background
On Nov. 16, 2021, the City Council confirmed the proposed Housing Element plan and directed staff to submit the proposed plan to the state Housing and Community Development Department (HCD) f or review and certification. Based on technical feedback from HCD, staff has conducted additional research, added further analysis to the plan, and has made minor program refinements to address HCD feedback towards obtaining certification of the Housing El ement by HCD to maintain compliance with state housing laws.
Join us at the Feb. 8 City Council meeting!
The updated Housing Element plan has been released for public review and will be considered for final adoption by the City Council on Feb. 8. The updated plan and more information on the project can be found at
longbeach.gov/housingelementupdate.
The City Council meeting agenda and staff report will be available on legistar.com.
Stream the meeting virtually
The public will have the option to use eComment to provide comments on agenda items. Written comments may also be submitted by email to [email protected].
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