by Chrissa Olson
Market and historical forces are working against Hermosa Beach meeting a state mandate to build low income accessory dwelling units (ADUs), according to local planning experts. Hermosa Beach has been mandated by the State to create 64 ADUs by 2029. Of these, 11 must be for very low-income residents, 28 for low income residents and 4 for moderate-income residents.
In 2022, all residential building permits, including 14 for ADUs, were for above-moderate income housing, according to the city.
“Put yourself in the place of a property owner,” Hermosa Beach Planning Commissioner Peter Hoffman said. Hoffman is the Director of Urban Studies at Loyola Marymount University.
“If you’re building a $5 million dollar home and you have the opportunity to build an ADU, aren’t you going to build it to luxury standards? You’re not going to be building inexpensive ADUs in Hermosa.”
Hoffman said local ADUs serve as a “high end guest room” for homeowners who may wish to allow adult children or grandparents to live on the property.
As a result, Hoffman said, the city is looking at its own properties, as well as privately owned property to satisfy the State Regional Needs Housing Allocation (RHNA).
Realtor Jonathan Coleman, who specializes in Hermosa Beach properties, said ADUs can at least provide less expensive housing in comparison to a full apartment or house.
Coleman said ADUs may help slow the “cascading effect” of rising prices, which force Hermosa residents to move to communities with lower prices.
(An ADU is an attached or detached residential unit of not more than 850 sq. ft. with a kitchen and bathroom, located on the lot of an existing, primary residence.)
“These are difficult votes to make at the local level,” said Shane Phillips, the Housing Initiative Project Manager at the UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies, regarding efforts to create more housing. “It’s why we’re seeing a lot of action at the State level, because the exact same arguments made in Hermosa are being made all over the state, and the country. When everyone is making those same arguments, we’re not solving our problems. Everyone’s pointing fingers at someone else.”
In the past, Phillips noted, homeowners had an extraordinary amount of political power when it came to opposing development in their communities. In cities that have historically worked hard to reduce density, changing course is difficult.
Saint Cross Episcopal Church neighbors protested at last week’s city council meeting against the church’s 14 parcels being rezoned high density, and placed on the city’s list of potential housing locations.
Phillips noted even costly ADUs can contribute to affordable housing.
“By creating additional housing in Hermosa, it is relieving pressure in other parts of LA County,” Phillips said. “It’s time for everyone to contribute, not just a few places,” he said. ER
