A new program could take thousands off of permitting fees and speed up the approval process for homeowners in Long Beach looking to build accessory dwelling units on their property.
Though City Manager Tom Modica called the financing mechanism “really complex” and “something new for us,” the council ultimately agreed to the plan without any amendments or modifications.
The statewide eviction moratorium ended Sept. 30 and landlords can now begin evicting residential tenants who have not already applied for rent relief programs like the one in Long Beach. Those who have already applied are protected from evictions through March 2022.
Since the pandemic began, Long Beach has issued a total of 124 citations for violations of the city’s health orders but just 11 were for people not abiding by the city’s mask mandate, according to a City Council memo released Tuesday.
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All of the mask citations went to businesses where employees were spotted by city officials not wearing masks, according to the memo authored by Long Beach Development Services Director Oscar Orci.
In Long Beach, mask citations include fines that start at $100 but can escalate to $500 depending on how many citations have been issued to an individual business, according to Rick De La Torre, a spokesperson for the city’s Development Services department, which includes code enforcement.
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A new state program seeks to increase the stock of housing for the so-called “missing middle” by issuing bonds to investors who buy existing market-rate buildings that are then transformed into units that a four-person household making $90,000 to $135,120 annually can afford.
Lennar, the developer of the Oceanaire building Downtown, recently took advantage of this new bond program and sold the two-year-old luxury complex for $144 million to the California Statewide Communities Development Authority, which bought the building using bonds purchased by investors who are repaid through monthly rents, plus interest.
The city had to sign off on the sale, as it will have to forgo property taxes for up to 30 years, but will get to keep proceeds from the future sale of the building.