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ATTACHMENT 2 <br />Flores, Dora <br />From: jordan@gideonlaw.net <br />Sent: Tuesday, January 16, 2024 10:00 AM <br />To: eComment <br />Cc: 'Christine Miller'; 'Parker Shea' <br />Subject: Item 27, City Council Meeting (1/16/24): Ordinance Amendment No. 2023-04 (Hotel - <br />Related Zoning Amendments) <br />Attachments: 2024.01.16_CC Comment Letter-ZOA Hotel Related Zoning Amendment.pdf <br />Follow Up Flag: <br />Flag Status: <br />Follow up <br />Flagged <br />Dear Honorable Mayor Amezcua and City Councilmembers: <br />On behalf of UNITE HERE Local 11 (Local 11), please see the attached five -page comment letter on the above -referenced <br />item involving various hotel -related Zoning Ordinance Amendment No. 2023-04 (ZOA). In short, Local 11 is concerned <br />about the ZOA's hotel -related provisions given the following: <br />1. There has been no environmental review for the 70A despite it being a project as defined by CEQA. <br />2. During a housing crisis, the ZOA would make it easier to build hotels than it wou#d be to build multi -family <br />housing in many parts of the City, <br />3. The Staff Report does not consider inconsistencies with numerous goals/policies under the City's Housing <br />Element that calls for more than 3,000 new housing units by 2029. <br />4. The proposed hotel standards are weak and do not address many potential impacts that hotel projects can <br />cause (e.g., displacing housing, low-income residents, increasing auto travel and associated environmental <br />impacts, etc.), which can be addressed through carefully crafted measures as part of a discretionary approval <br />process. <br />5. The ZOA would remove the discretionary approval process and less hotel development oversight by the elected <br />City Council. In comparison, other cities see the need for more oversight to mitigate potential negative impacts, <br />such as the City of Los Angeles, which recently passed a new CUP requirement (appealable to its City Council) for <br />all hotels proposed in Hollywood and Downtown Los Angeles. <br />Local 11 has a significant interest in this matter, with over 30,000 workers employed in hotels, restaurants, airports, <br />sports arenas, and convention centers throughout Southern California and Phoenix —including hundreds of members <br />who live and/or work in the Citw. For these reasons (discussed further in the attached comment letter), Local 11 <br />respectfully requests the City strike and remove Sections 7 through 20 and Exhibits A and B of the updated ZOA included <br />in the Executive Director's Memorandum dated January 11, 2024 (see Memo). <br />City staff, please confirm receipt of this message and do not hesitate to contact me if you have any issues retrieving the <br />attached document. <br />Very truly yours, <br />Jordan R. Sisson, Attorney <br />Law Office of Gideon Kracov <br />8015. Grand Ave., lath Floor <br />Los Angeles, CA 90017 <br />Office: 951-405-8127 <br />Direct: 951-542-2735 <br />