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Council Members, Comments, and Whittier Boulevard's Future

  • Writer: Chris La Farge
    Chris La Farge
  • Aug 7, 2018
  • 6 min read

Updated: Apr 6, 2019

This is the second installment in my series taking a critical look at the Whittier Boulevard Specific Plan and it’s role in the 2018 Whittier City Council Elections.


Boyar Avenue at Whittier Boulevard, August 5, 2018.

Looking back at the 2018 City Council elections, the three biggest issues were public safety, homelessness, and development. On Nextdoor.com, I ran a poll on March 30th asking if the Whittier Boulevard Specific Plan (WBSP) policy of allowing residential uses to be built on formerly commercial sites was good or bad planning and economic development policy. To date, 135 users have responded with 80% voting bad, 12% voting good, and 6% voting not sure. And in each of the district races, both principal challengers criticized the dense multifamily residential developments going up around town, reflecting the community's sentiment.


On election day, the voters chimed in. Incumbent Bob Henderson was soundly defeated by 7 percent and incumbent Fernando Dutra narrowly escaped defeat with a 51% - 49% win, suggesting widespread discontent with the status quo. One district 2 resident commented that the Davidson Drive project may have been the one that cost Henderson re-election. Councilman Dutra stated that it was a difficult campaign but that he and his family are okay. He’s right. It was a difficult campaign and I’m glad they are okay, yet development remains an ongoing concern.



The Questions


Even though the election is over, we should continue asking questions. Here's one. With our new Council, is there a chance of the WBSP being amended to remove or drastically restrict new residential developments? In order to get an idea, I reached out to each Council Member and asked him or her. In his response, Councilman Dutra indicated that he's in favor of reviewing the WBSP and has been for a long time. He also stated that, “I have recommended to the City Council that we bring the plan back for review. It would be premature for me to take a position until WE have a chance to discuss all conditions.” This sounds good.


I also asked each Council Member if she or he is in favor of removing lodging facilities from the WBSP to (1) prevent applications for new ones and (2) to make the existing ones nonconforming uses, in order to give the city leverage over the existing motel(s). A nonconforming use is one that does not comply with the zoning code, or in this case, the WBSP. Councilman Dutra essentially reiterated that he’s in favor of reviewing the WBSP and that he has ideas but has to reserve them until he reviews the plan in detail. Fair enough. We can wait.


The last question was whether he or she is in favor of lobbying or pressuring our state assemblyman, senator, and next governor to bring back redevelopment agencies for cities. Mr. Dutra indicated “yes” and that "it was a bad idea to eliminate redevelopment to begin with." I agree and hope he gets more involved. Councilman Dutra also stated, “As someone who actually used 'redevelopment funds' to create housing opportunities and community improvements  I think I can properly articulate the uses and benefits as well as options.” This is good because if redevelopment is reinstated, even in a form different from what previously existed, it could again become an effective tool to revitalize vacant and dilapidated storefronts and warehouses into vibrant new commercial and industrial spaces.



The Whittier Budget Inn is on Boyar Avenue at Whittier Boulevard.


The New Council


Currently, the city is working on adopting its new General Plan. In California, each city is required by law to have a General Plan which is its constitution for land use, its big picture planning policy document, as I learned in planning school. Whittier is scheduled to adopt its new General Plan in the Fall of 2019.[i] Today, the Council is new because Henry Bouchot is on it.[ii] The Councilman indicated that he would be in support of reviewing the WBSP after the General Plan is adopted. He also encouraged me to get involved with the Envision Whittier General Plan update process.


Regarding removing motels from the WBSP, Councilman Bouchot stated he would like Whittier to be a destination city so we need hotels but not motels. I suggest that instead of lumping both together as “lodging facilities,” which the WBSP does, Whittier should separately define the terms hotel and motel, as LA County does for the unincorporated areas. Once the city does this, then it can only permit new hotels in the WBSP.



On Nextdoor.com, reports are regularly posted of suspicious activity and individuals circulating through the residential neighborhood adjacent to the Whittier Budget Inn.


The Rest of the Council


When I reached out to Councilwoman Cathy Warner, she asked the City Manager, Jeff Collier, to respond to how State laws relate to my questions. Mr. Collier responded promptly. He stated that removing or drastically restricting new residential development presents “a problem under Government Code Section 65863, which speaks to a ‘no net loss’ of a jurisdiction’s share of the regional housing need under the Regional Housing Needs Assessment (RHNA) numbers.”


Under California law, each city is required to include a Housing element in its General Plan which addresses how it will meet its current and projected housing need for people of all income levels during a multi-year period. Whittier’s last Housing Element Update covers 2014 - 2021 and assesses a RHNA of 878 units.[iii] 509 of those 878 units are targeted for extremely low, very low, low, and moderate income families.


With Nelles and the other projects completed and under construction, it appears Whittier will come close to meeting this overall number of 878 units if a significant percentage of the 750 Nelles units are completed by 2021. On the other hand, few if any of the new units are affordable. Therefore, Whittier will not come anywhere near achieving 509 new affordable units for families that are moderate income and below. So while I agree with Mr. Collier that Whittier’s RHNA is a concern, the city is not achieving its complete RHNA goals anyways, despite all of the construction.


One final RHNA question is how the State enforces it. I am not aware of any enforcement, even though the State passed laws last year making it harder for cities to deny applications for affordable housing projects. Other than this, I'm not sure the state does much to enforce. Then, there are the ADUs. The new Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) count towards RHNA too. Whittier's overall housing production is on track and it appears difficult to enforce it in the first place. Therefore, we should be more concerned with the loss of commercial space than the RHNA concerns. I touched on the impacts of lost commercial space in the first part of this series.[iv]


Councilman Dutra has indicated that he is in favor of reviewing the WBSP. He’s also the Council Member who recommended the moratorium on new lodging facilities. Since Councilman Bouchot is also in favor of review after the new General Plan is adopted in late 2019, I believe an amendment regarding lodging facilities is possible. However, I have no idea what changes may come. The Council may create separate definitions in the code for motel and hotel uses. Then, they may go as far as removing motels from the WBSP but still allowing hotels. We have to wait and see. In the meantime, I suggest reaching out to your District Council Member, Mayor, City Manager, and Director of Community Development to let them know your opinion on motels and new residential development.


While a change may be made on lodging facilities, multifamily (multi-unit) residential uses are a different story. In my communications with the Council Members and City Manager, none indicated they were specifically interested in reviewing these residential uses. Perhaps one or two council members may be interested, but an amendment requires majority approval. This is a taller order and less likely, in my opinion. Therefore, we may see even more residential projects being approved on Whittier Boulevard through the next election in 2020.


In closing, I recommend getting involved with the Envision Whittier General Plan update, as Councilman Bouchot suggested to me. In fact, the next Envision Whittier event is the Commissioners/Public Workshop: Options on September 5th from 5:00 to 8:30 PM at the Whittier Community Center, 7630 Washington Avenue, Whittier, CA. Whittier Boulevard’s future is not only the responsibility of the Council and city staff but of all residents and voters. This city is ours. This is our home.




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