When devastating wildfires swept through California earlier this year, many buildings were destroyed beyond repair. In fact, the Eaton and Palisades fires alone destroyed 40,000 acres of properties, and 6,800 buildings were damaged in the Palisades fire, affecting the Santa Monica Mountains.
Now, the rebuilding process is leading to some conflict. Specifically, many residents of Pacific Palisades have recently expressed serious concerns about Senate Bill 549, which would create “Resilient Rebuilding Authorities" funded by the government through property tax collection. These concerns were recently raised in a Fox 11 LA news report.
These authorities would be given the power to purchase lots where homes had been destroyed by fire, and to build low-income housing on a significant percentage of those lots.
However, residents of Pacific Palisades, where Realtor.com reports the median home listing price is $4.9 million, are not happy with what they see as a "land grab." Many have voiced opposition, and, in response, Senate Bill 549 has been put on hold until at least 2026.
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What would the California affordable housing bill do?
Senate Bill 549 explains that existing law gives the government the authority to establish an "infrastructure financing district to finance public capital facilities or other specified projects of communitywide significance" and to "allocate tax revenues… to the district, including revenues derived from local sales and use taxes."
Lawmakers now want to use this power to create Resilient Rebuilding Authorities, which would use some of the money to buy lots in Pacific Palisades and build homes for people with incomes between 60% and 30% of the median income, as well as homes that would be occupied by people with incomes below 30% of the area median and permanent supportive housing aimed at finding homes for the homeless.
Governor Gavin Newsom also separately allocated $101 million in taxpayer money for the construction of more low-income housing to "accelerate the development of affordable multifamily rental housing so that those rebuilding their lives after this tragedy have access to a safe, affordable place to come home to."
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Why is the California housing bill causing so much controversy?
While lawmakers may want to build affordable housing in Pacific Palisades, residents are not so sure they want this to happen.
Jessica Rogers, Pacific Palisades Residents’ Association president, wrote a letter expressing her objections to lawmakers, which over 2,300 other local residents signed onto.
"[Lawmakers are] asking for a land grab," Rogers said. "This is a rebuild, this is not a politicians get to decide a pet project on what they’re going to decide in the Palisades. This is residents of this community get to decide what happens in our rebuild phase, period."
Rogers also stated that while there was some affordable housing in the area in the past, residents don’t want more of this housing built because they don’t want things to change — they want their neighborhood back the way it was.
"We had some low-income housing, and we had affordable housing," Rogers explained. "We want what we had on January 7 [the day of the Palisades Fire]. Nothing more, nothing less."
Another resident was also upset about the idea of the government coming in and making sweeping changes without the consent of those who already lived there. "It does sound quite a bit like Big Brother deciding what’s good for all of us," commented Aileen Haugh, another local resident. "It’s irritating to think that other people [not local residents] are going to make decisions of what gets built and how it gets built."
Misinformation may have also played a role in stoking opposition, as the LA Times reported that Spencer Pratt, a reality TV star, had shared information on social media about his opposition to the bill, who claimed that the government was focused on dense reconstruction and wouldn’t be abiding by local zoning rules.
The LA Times has also said that some of the other posts opposing the legislation were based on prejudiced views towards affordable housing and distrust of the government, as well as fears that the character of Pacific Palisades would change. Some even floated the conspiracy that the fires were set on purpose to replace the wealthy community with one where homes were more affordable.
Regardless of whether the objections are based on conspiracy theories or fact, however, lawmakers have taken notice, and the controversial bill has now been put on pause.
"I appreciate the input of the folks who have weighed in about the bill, and along with legislative colleagues have decided that it would be best for us to pause the bill until next year to give us more time to see if we can get it right," State Senator Ben Allen said in a recent statement. "For me to feel comfortable proceeding, the bill will have to be deeply grounded in community input, empowerment, and decision-making, including the support of the impacted councilmembers."
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