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Rent Stabilization Ordinance / Interim Control Ordinance (ICO) / Demolition, Building, Grading or other applicable Permits Prohibition / Valley Glen

Council File 25-0970

Under review — the city is moving forward with an emergency ordinance to block demolition permits on rent-stabilized apartments in a Valley Glen neighborhood section, protecting tenants from eviction. It's passed Council and state review, but the Planning Committee still needs to act.

Introduced
2025-08-20
Last changed
2026-06-17
Status
open
Expires
2028-06-17
Committee
Planning and Land Use Management Committee
Mover
ADRIN NAZARIAN
Second
MONICA RODRIGUEZ
References
City Attorney Report: R26-0344

Brief

Councilmember Adrin Nazarian and Monica Rodriguez introduced a motion to establish an Interim Control Ordinance (ICO) for Valley Glen that would temporarily freeze rent stabilization and halt demolition, building, grading, and related permits. The motion passed the Planning and Land Use Management Committee in December 2025 and was adopted by Council on December 12, 2025, with a 14-1 vote. A City Attorney report issued in June 2026 has been referred back to committee for further consideration.

Full summary

Councilmember Adrin Nazarian introduced this motion in response to what he described as an unintended consequence of the city's accelerated housing development push under Mayor's Executive Directive 1: tenants in rent-stabilized units being evicted to make way for new construction. The motion identified a specific legal ambiguity in Municipal Code Section 151.09(C)(4), which is supposed to protect tenants from demolition-driven evictions but does not clearly specify whether a demolition permit must be applied for or actually issued before eviction notices can be served. Rather than wait for a citywide fix, Nazarian moved to impose immediate protections on a targeted section of Valley Glen, a neighborhood he identified as having an especially high concentration of rent-stabilized properties. The motion directed the Planning Department, in consultation with the City Attorney, to prepare an Interim Control Ordinance prohibiting the issuance of demolition, building, grading, and other applicable permits for RSO-regulated properties in a defined area bounded roughly by Hazeltine Avenue on the east, Woodman Avenue on the west, Oxnard Street on the north, and Hatteras Street on the south, with Buffalo Avenue included along its eastern edge. The ICO was to include an urgency clause making it effective upon publication, with an initial 45-day duration and options to extend under California Government Code Section 65858. The motion was adopted by Council in September 2025 and directed to the Planning and Land Use Management Committee. The PLUM Committee approved an amended version on December 9, 2025, and the full Council adopted it 14-1 on December 12, 2025. A required state review followed: the California Department of Housing and Community Development, which must evaluate proposed housing development restrictions under Government Code Section 66300, determined in April 2026 that the ICO's narrowly tailored prohibition meets statutory requirements and approved its adoption and enforcement. In June 2026, City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto transmitted a draft ICO ordinance to Council for formal enactment. The draft, approved as to form and legality, would prohibit demolition permits specifically for occupied residential units that are or were subject to rent or price control within the past five years in the defined Valley Glen area. It carries an urgency clause requiring a four-fifths vote, would take effect upon publication, and could run up to 24 months total under state law. That draft has been referred to the PLUM Committee, where it remains pending as of June 17, 2026, awaiting a vote to formally enact the ordinance.

Activity (13)

  • 2026-06-17 City Attorney document(s) referred to Planning and Land Use Management Committee.
  • 2026-06-17 Document submitted by City Attorney, dated June 16, 2026.
  • 2025-12-15 Council action final.
  • 2025-12-12 Council adopted item forthwith.
  • 2025-12-09 City Clerk scheduled item for Council on December 12, 2025.
  • 2025-12-09 Planning and Land Use Management Committee approved as amended .
  • 2025-12-05 Planning and Land Use Management Committee scheduled item for committee meeting on December 9, 2025.
  • 2025-12-04 Los Angeles City Planning Commission document(s) referred to Planning and Land Use Management Committee.
  • 2025-12-04 Document submitted by Los Angeles City Planning Commission, dated December 4, 2025.
  • 2025-09-10 Council action final.
  • 2025-09-09 Council adopted item forthwith.
  • 2025-09-05 City Clerk scheduled item for Council on September 9, 2025.
  • 2025-08-20 Motion referred to Planning and Land Use Management Committee.

Documents (16)

Council votes (1)

  • 2025-12-12 Adopted Forthwith — 14-1-0 · Regular

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