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27 SGV cities want Newsom to veto bill changing single-family zoning BY CITY NEWS SERVICE
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he San Gabriel Valley Council of Governments announced Friday that the mayors of 27 cities in the San Gabriel Valley signed a letter urging Gov. Gavin Newsom to veto a bill approved by the state legislature that would allow lots zones for single-family homes to have up to four units. Senate Bill 9 was introduced by Sen. Toni Atkins, D-San Diego, and would allow the lots to subdivide into two, with each able to have a two-unit building, essentially allowing two duplexes on properties initially allowed to have single-family homes. Atkins told the New York Times that it is a “gentle density increase that respects the character of the neighborhoods,” but local governments in Los Angeles County, including the L.A. City Council, oppose the bill. “Senate Bill 9 will drive real estate speculators to purchase homes in order to split parcels, build duplexes on each lot and secure rental income streams -- at the expense of the quality of life of our residents. Quadrupling the
number of units on a parcel will deprive children of backyards where they can play, devastate our urban tree canopy and reduce privacy, light and air for residents,” said Monrovia Councilwoman Becky Shevlin, who also serves as president of the San Gabriel Valley Council of Governments. SGVCG said it advocates for addressing the affordable housing shortage by rezoning vacant and nonviable commercial properties and providing incentives to affordable housing developers to build on that land. SGVCG’s letter in opposition to the bill was signed by the cities of Alhambra, Arcadia, Azusa, Baldwin Park, Bradbury, Claremont, Diamond Bar, Duarte, Glendora, Industry, Irwindale, La Canada Flintridge, La Verne, Monrovia, Montebello, Monterey Park, Pasadena, Pomona, San Dimas, San Gabriel, San Marino, Sierra Madre, South El Monte, South Pasadena, Temple City, Walnut and West Covina. While some housing advocates opposed the bill for not including requirements for affordable housing, others, like the Terner Center for Housing
Innovation at UC Berkeley, support the bill for its potential to increase the number of homes in California. The Terner Center’s analysis of the bill found that it could create 714,000 new units statewide, including 127,000 in Los Angeles. Housing Is A Human Right, which is a division of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, came out in opposition to the bill, saying it would increase gentrification and benefit real estate interests. “We know that (the bill) will cause developers to target our lowincome Black and brown communities ... there is no requirement for affordable housing or homeless housing, and given that we have 161,000 people who are homeless in the state of California, over 60,000 in the county and over 40,000 in the city, it is absolutely unconscionable to have a housing production bill that would not provide for our homeless community or for people who desperately need affordable housing,” Susie Shannon, policy director for Housing Is A Human Right, said in a call into the Los Angeles City Council.
Construction in the San Gabriel Valley. | Photo by Terry Miller / Beacon Media News
Teen arrested in fatal shooting of 17-year-old in Anaheim after claiming to be victim of drive-by BY CITY NEWS SERVICE
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n 18-year-old Anaheim man charged in a shooting of a 17-yearold friend now faces upgraded charges of murder because the victim died from his wounds Thursday. Zachary Pickrell is charged with attempted murder with a sentencing enhancement for attempted premeditated murder and the personal use of a
firearm. He was scheduled to be arraigned on Sept. 24 in the jail courtroom in Santa Ana. Pickrell is accused of killing Ashton Arauz of Anaheim. Police were called to a residence in the 1700 block of North Holbrook Street about 9:20 p.m. Sunday after it was reported the victim was shot, Anaheim Police Department Sgt. Shane Carringer said.
Officers found the teen in the residence and rushed him to a hospital, Carringer said. He was pronounced dead Thursday morning, said Carringer, who declined to identify the victim. Pickrell said he was a friend of the teen’s and that they were the victim of a drive-by shooting, Carringer said. Investigators concluded there had been no drive-by shooting
and that Pickrell killed the victim, Carringer said. The teen was on lifesupport in a hospital when Pickrell was booked on suspicion of attempted murder. Pickrell was being held on $1 million bail. Police did not release what may have motivated the shooting. According to a Go Fund Me page, Ashton was described by his brothers as a “wonderful kid, always
so kind and loving towards his friends and family, especially his mother Janet.” It added that he “loved to play sports, fashion, sneakers, playing video games with his friends, cook for his mom, make up his own music, and so much more.” Ashton was a student at Esperanza High School, according to the Go Fund Me page.
Zachary Pickrell. | Photo courtesy of Anaheim PD