SB79: For preservation in Los Angeles, there is no greater threat
Earlier this year I wrote about Senate Bill 79 (SB79) and the threats it posed to the historic neighborhoods of Greater Wilshire. This bill, which is designed to promote Transit Oriented Development (TOD), would upend zoning codes throughout the city and county to allow for the construction of 5-6 story buildings on any lot zoned residential within ½ mile of a transit stop. This would cover almost all of our Historic Preservation Overlay Zones and historic districts allowing for the demolition of contributing structures in these areas, the demolition of historic cultural monuments and landmarks designated on the state and federal levels, no exceptions. There is no greater threat to our community’s and our city’s historic resources than this bill.
Approximately 6% of Los Angeles is protected as historic. A fraction more contains “identified historic resources” meaning those sites listed on Office of Historic Resources main database of identified historic buildings and districts, SurveyLA, tha
SENATE BILL 79 is designed to promote Transit Oriented Development (TOD) and would upend zoning codes throughout the city and county to allow for the construction of 5-6 story buildings on any lot zoned residential within ½ mile of a transit stop, such as Windsor and Beverly boulevards, above.
t are not protected but are eligible for either city, state or federal designation. SB 79 places a bullseye squarely on the oldest and most historic communities of our city, Greater Wilshire, Hollywood, Beverly Grove, Downtown, Westlake, Los Feliz, Silver Lake, West Adams, essentially all of central Los Angeles, that are rich in both designated and identified historic resources as well as transit.
Historic buildings and historic districts are not renewable resources. Once they are gone, they are gone. The protection and celebration of our built heritage has always been a fight in our city that likes to see itself as perennially young and dynamic. The historic preservation movement in Los Angeles through decades of battles, victories and losses, established itself as part of the fabric of our polity and in the values of many of our communities. It is a recognized good. It must be protected at all costs.
Already the defenses are weakening. Laws such as SB330 passed in 2019, ended our city’s ability to create Historic Preservation Overlay Zones and Assembly Bills 130 and 131 recently signed into law by Gov. Newsom exempted new residential infill projects from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). CEQA had been a powerful tool for the preservation community allowing for the review of projects that affected identified historic resources, occasionally leading to the saving of a historic structure or its integration into a new project. But even AB130 and AB131 do not impact designated resources.
Act now to stop SB79!
By now most of the readers of this newspaper will have received notices from your homeowner’s and neighborhood associations asking for your help to defeat this bill, which not only promises to decimate the historic treasures of Los Angeles, but end single-family neighborhoods as well, which also are not exempt. If you have sent an email or made a call previously, send another, NOW! Our Assemblyman Rick Chavez Zbur needs to hear from you before he returns to Sacramento on Tues., Aug. 19. Look for events that the Assemblyman will be attending and speak with him directly if you can, but also call and write to him urging him to amend this bill to exempt designated historic resources from this bill. His office line in Sacramento is 1-916-319-2051 or you can call the local district office 1-323-436-5184 or email him at assemblymember.Zbur@assembly.ca.gov.
It’s in our hands.
Category: News
