Over 200 Residents Gather for Special Meeting About Housing Element in San Marino

Members of the San Marino City Council, Planning Commission and more than 200 residents gathered inside the Kenneth F. White Auditorium at Huntington Middle School on Dec. 2 for a special meeting to discuss the controversial Housing Element of the city’s General Plan, according to the San Marino Tribune. 

The Housing Element would change zoning restrictions to make room for mixed-use developments in order to solve a low-income housing requirement from the state. Many of the residents at the meeting voiced serious opposition to the Housing Element, according to the report.

“This is a solution in search of a problem,” said former Planning Commissioner Ken Riley, according to the report. “If you adopt this plan it will be irreversible and it will not produce affordable housing. This will destroy the fabric of the building code.”

Despite having the 7th-highest median income in Los Angeles County, there are still people living in poverty and paying "too much" for rent in San Marino, according to a recent report by San Marino Patch. Click here to see our map of San Marino showing the areas of the city where people are paying "too much" for rent. 

Click here to see the city's full agenda report on the Housing Element. 

What do you think of the Housing Element? Tell us in the comments.