Three City Council members introduced a motion Wednesday seeking to establish a so-called cooling ordinance that would require all rental units in the city to have a maximum indoor temperature of 82 degrees.<\/p>\n
During a news conference outside City Hall, council members Bob Blumenfield, Eunisses Hernandez and Adrin Nazarian spoke about the measure, which they said would align the city with Los Angeles County\u2019s regulations.<\/p>\n
In August, the county Board of Supervisors approved an ordinance that established a maximum indoor temperature standard of 82 degrees Fahrenheit for rental housing in unincorporated areas.<\/p>\n
The City Council members noted that neighborhoods in the city such as those in the San Fernando Valley and East Los Angeles routinely experience 100-degree temperatures. Blumenfield, who represents western San Fernando Valley communities, noted that in 2020, temperatures reached a record-breaking 121 degrees.<\/p>\n
Extreme heat can lead to a trip to the emergency room, hospitalizations and even death, the council members said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn CD1, where most of our residents are renters, families are living in older apartments with little to no cooling infrastructure,\u201d said Hernandez, who represents downtown and East L.A. neighborhoods. \u201cExtreme heat is deadly, and without protections, it will keep impacting the same communities that are already overburdened by pollution, poverty and displacement.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSetting this standard will save lives and ensure no one is left behind during heat waves,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n
The motion also calls on the housing and water and power departments to expand incentive programs to help tenants install affordable air conditioning, and assist building owners with upgrades such as solar panels, battery storage and so-called \u201ccool roofs.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMaking sure residents aren\u2019t living in extreme heat with their own home is an important first step in protecting Angelenos from the havoc being wreaked by climate change,\u201d Blumenfield said. \u201cWithout such protections, Angelenos who live in the west San Fernando Valley, which regularly hits three-digit temperatures, won\u2019t just be uncomfortable, they will be at risk for heat stroke or worse.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nazarian added, \u201cThese standards ensure predictable and consistent requirements for rental housing, they protect public health and they will save lives. Nothing should be more important than that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Supervisor Hilda Solis, who led the effort on the county\u2019s ordinance, thanked the council members for taking on the endeavor. For the county\u2019s policy, the supervisor explained that it took a few years before it was finalized.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe county\u2019s ordinance is meant to provide relief to the unincorporated residents and protect them from the dangers of extreme heat in their home,\u201d Solis said, adding that it will serve low-income residents and immigrant communities, many of whom are staying indoors because of fear of immigration enforcement.<\/p>\n
Under the county\u2019s policy, landlords are expected to allow tenants to install portable cooling devices such as air-conditioning units or fans. Tenants will be allowed to install \u201cnon-mechanical cooling methods,\u201d as well like blackout curtains, for example, to control the temperature in their units.<\/p>\n
The county law is expected to take effect in September, but enforcement will not begin until Jan. 1, 2027. Smaller-property landlords will initially only be required to maintain the 82-degree temperature standard in at least one habitable room, but the requirement will expand to all rooms on Jan. 1, 2032.<\/p>\n
On the city\u2019s side, enforcement of the policy will be part of future discussions. Blumenfield noted that it will be like any other health ordinance.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have mechanisms in place already to enforce habitability, and there\u2019s some severe standards,\u201d Blumenfield said. \u201cWe have our REAP program. \u2026 There are some very strong tools that are already out there, tried and tested, have been used on a variety of requirements for rental units.\u201d<\/p>\n
Representatives of Strategic Actions for a Just Economy, a tenants advocacy group, and SMART Local 105 joined elected officials for the announcement.<\/p>\n
Fernando Ochoa of Sheet Metal Workers Local Union 105 said his labor group supported the proposed policy.<\/p>\n
\u201c\u2026Our members install and maintain the HVAC systems and cooling roofs that make safe, comfortable homes possible, and we know firsthand how critical this protection is for families across Los Angeles,\u201d Ochoa said. \u201cToo often, we encounter buildings lacking these essential, life-saving upgrades.\u201d<\/p>\n
Alejandro Campillo, a representative of SAJE, told City News Service that many of the group\u2019s members live in the city. The organization is based in South Los Angeles.<\/p>\n
\u201cClimate issues are tenant issues, and vice versa,\u201d Campillo said. \u201cI mean, there\u2019s just so many ways in which housing is leading to climate change and climate change is leading to worse housing. Being able to work on something like this that impacts our members, and also climate change, it speaks to what SAJE is all about.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Three City Council members introduced a motion Wednesday seeking to establish a so-called cooling ordinance that would require…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":198021,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5123],"tags":[1582,276,2451,50051,109842,2961,26403,224,5337,36702,10557,37013],"class_list":{"0":"post-198020","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-california","10":"tag-city","11":"tag-cooling","12":"tag-establish","13":"tag-la","14":"tag-looks","15":"tag-los-angeles","16":"tag-losangeles","17":"tag-ordinance","18":"tag-rental","19":"tag-units"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115142873986436046","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/198020","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=198020"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/198020\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/198021"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=198020"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=198020"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=198020"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}