City Hall’s push to allow developers to build more — and taller — buildings across Long Beach is running into heavy opposition.

The controversy surrounds a city policy document, the Land Use Element, that dates back to 1989, a time when the Berlin Wall still stood within a divided Germany and Michael Keaton portrayed Batman in American cinemas.

The Land Use Element sets basic rules for what kinds of buildings can be built in a given neighborhood, and although City Hall has made two revisions — the last in 1997 — city planners are now attempting a full-blown rewrite for the first time since the 8-bit era.

As presently drafted, the Land Use Element may already be a dead letter. Mayor Robert Garcia doesn’t get to vote on city plans and other legislation, but he ordered a series of four town hall meetings, allowing residents to voice their thoughts on the plan. Two of those meetings have now taken place, and the prevailing view among those attending is that allowing more dwellings in taller buildings — a concept often referred to as density — is bad idea.

“What has to happen is, we have to go back to saying the existing zoning is going to be in place,” said Corliss Lee, a representative of an eastside neighbors’ group opposed to new plans emanating from City Hall and the state Capitol.

“That would put some controls on this.”

Lee offered her view while she and like-minded residents sought to consolidate opposition to new development at a Town Hall meeting where Long Beach officials sought to gain support for — or at least explain — their draft for an updated Land Use Element. The meeting took place Wednesday at Whaley Park Community Center, and neither the building itself nor a tent set up on the grass with piped-in audio provided sufficient room for all who came.

Attendees’ questions and shouted comments indicate many remain unconvinced that city planners, not to mention Sacramento officials who want to accelerate housing construction up and down the Golden State, have the community’s best interests in mind.

But as upward trending housing prices correspond with a decline in the number of Californians who can afford to buy or rent a home, others claim even if all proposed measures are approved, it still would not result in enough construction to support economic growth.

“When you don’t have bodies, you can’t make new jobs,” said Beacon Economics founder Christopher Thornberg, who does not expect the recent package of housing bills that Gov. Jerry Brown signed in late September will alleviate the Golden State’s housing crisis.

Contrasting visions

Long Beach Development Services Director Amy Bodek, who had the unenviable task of leading the Whaley Park meeting in front of a highly-skeptical crowd, said Long Beach’s current plans are way behind the times.

The 1989 edition of the Land Use Element, she said, was written by hand before being typed out on a word processor. The internet was not yet part of everyday life. There was no Blue Line to carry commuters between Long Beach and Los Angeles.

What’s more, Long Beach was home to some 44,000 fewer humans than live in the city today. It’s a misconception, she said, to believe “if we don’t update the general plan, there will be no change to the city and people won’t want to move here.”

The night’s audience clapped and cheered the prospect of no new residents coming in to Long Beach.

An overflow crowd, including families, attends a community forum to discuss the 2040 general plan and urban density at Whaley Park in Long Beach on Wednesday, October 4, 2017. The crowd filled the community room as well as an adjacent outdoor tent as will as overflow seating and standing areas to ask questions and learn about possible changes to the general plan. (Photo by Scott Varley, Press-Telegram/SCNG)

A sign language interpreter, foreground, repeats director of Development Services, Amy Bodek’s words as she leads a community forum to discuss the 2040 general plan and urban density at Whaley Park in Long Beach on Wednesday, October 4, 2017. The crowd filled the community room as well as an adjacent outdoor tent as will as overflow seating and standing areas to ask questions and learn about possible changes to the general plan. (Photo by Scott Varley, Press-Telegram/SCNG)

An overflow crowd stands in the doorway of a community forum to discuss the 2040 general plan and urban density at Whaley Park in Long Beach on Wednesday, October 4, 2017. The crowd filled the community room as well as an adjacent outdoor tent as will as overflow seating and standing areas to ask questions and learn about possible changes to the general plan. (Photo by Scott Varley, Press-Telegram/SCNG)

Sound The gallery will resume in seconds

Councilman Daryl Supernaw speaks to an overflow crowd at a community forum to discuss the 2040 general plan and urban density at Whaley Park in Long Beach on Wednesday, October 4, 2017. The crowd filled the community room as well as an adjacent outdoor tent as will as overflow seating and standing areas to ask questions and learn about possible changes to the general plan. (Photo by Scott Varley, Press-Telegram/SCNG)

Residents look over proposed ideas for future development as they try to get answers at a community forum to discuss the 2040 general plan and urban density at Whaley Park in Long Beach on Wednesday, October 4, 2017. The crowd filled the community room as well as an adjacent outdoor tent as will as overflow seating and standing areas to ask questions and learn about possible changes to the general plan. (Photo by Scott Varley, Press-Telegram/SCNG)



Director of Development Services, Amy Bodek tries to keep a large crowd behaved during a community forum to discuss the 2040 general plan and urban density at Whaley Park in Long Beach on Wednesday, October 4, 2017. The crowd filled the community room as well as an adjacent outdoor tent as will as overflow seating and standing areas to ask questions and learn about possible changes to the general plan. (Photo by Scott Varley, Press-Telegram/SCNG)

Residents look over proposed ideas for future development at a community forum to discuss the 2040 general plan and urban density at Whaley Park in Long Beach on Wednesday, October 4, 2017. The crowd filled the community room as well as an adjacent outdoor tent as will as overflow seating and standing areas to ask questions and learn about possible changes to the general plan. (Photo by Scott Varley, Press-Telegram/SCNG)

Some booed or hissed, some applauded speakers and a couple people brought signs to a community forum to discuss the 2040 general plan and urban density at Whaley Park in Long Beach on Wednesday, October 4, 2017. The crowd filled the community room as well as an adjacent outdoor tent as will as overflow seating and standing areas to ask questions and learn about possible changes to the general plan. (Photo by Scott Varley, Press-Telegram/SCNG)

Southern California Associated Governments, a regional agency charged with planning for more than 38,000 square miles of the Southland, determined in its most-recent Regional Housing Needs Assessment that Long Beach needs to develop 7,000-plus new housing units between 2014 and 2021.

As of the end of last year, City Hall would need to permit roughly 5,900 more homes to meet that goal.

The draft Land Use Element seeks to make room for more housing by letting developers go vertical in some areas. Draft maps show areas where five- and six-story buildings would be allowed to exist around the circumference of the Traffic Circle. Maps also depict 10-story buildings near major intersections in the Wrigley Area, but those are already allowed for as part of a previously-approved plan.

Yet based on the feedback at Whaley Park, that’s just the kind of proposal to arouse worries of traffic congestion and increased crime.

“If we’re going to put all these big buildings in and no parking, then how are going to get around,” asked Lee, who laughed at the prospect of Long Beachers giving up their cars to embrace public transportation or bicycles.

“It’s ridiculous,” she said.

Housing crunch

The number of Los Angeles County residents who could afford a single-family home in Los Angeles County has trended downward since the first quarter of 2012, when California Association of Realtors data showed 51 percent of county residents could afford to buy a house. As of the second quarter of this year, the affordability rate for Los Angeles County stood at 28 percent. The rate was an even lower 21 percent for neighboring Orange County.

Gov. Jerry Brown signed a package of 15 housing bills in late September that his office touted as a means to increase home construction and to improve affordability. The new legislation includes the likes of S.B. 2, which creates a new tax on real estate documents to finance affordable housing projects; S.B. 3, which calls for a public vote on a $4 billion housing bond; and S.B. 35, which in some cases limits local governments’ abilities to deny permission for new multifamily developments.

Some public comments made during Wednesday night’s meeting came from people worrying that SB 35 would amount to a free-for-all for developers. Long Beach staffers are still reviewing how the new legislation, along with other laws, may affect planning and development.

Homebuilding up and down the state has not yet rebounded to pre-recession levels, according to the California Homebuilding Foundation. Officials permitted some 113,000 single-family and multifamily units to the state’s housing stock in 2007, the year when the bust began.

The foundation forecasts officials will this year grant permits for 108,000 units,

Beacon Economics’ Thornberg doubts new housing laws will do much to promote new construction.

Thornberg’s view is that government officials are too focused on increasing the supply of low-income housing and that he said doesn’t make economic sense for developers. Increasing the supply of high-end housing, however, could provide middle- and low-income households with more access to existing housing stock.

He also praised Los Angeles officials for making moves during Antonio Villaraigosa’s administration to encourage development in areas such as Hollywood and downtown.

“The cure for gentrification is densification,” Thornberg said.

What’s next for Long Beach

In Long Beach, the Planning Commission has already declined to recommend the draft Land Use Element in its current form to the City Council. Although Bodek had planned to bring the issue to the council without commissioners’ endorsement, Garcia halted the process until public meetings could take place.

This week, he reiterated his view that the plan should not be approved in its current form.

“I don’t support the maps. There is way too much density in the suburban neighborhoods,” he said.

Garcia is not opposed to density, an idea he has praised in past public appearances. He said Thursday density is appropriate in downtown and along transit corridors. The city’s Midtown Specific Plan, adopted in May 2016, already lays out the prospect of 10-story buildings where the Blue Line crosses major intersections.

The draft Land Use Element shows such buildings being possible near Anaheim Street, Pacific Coast Highway and Willow Street.

Two more town halls are scheduled to take place.

“After all scheduled workshops are complete, and after we have heard from as many diverse voices as possible throughout the city, staff will take a fresh look at the maps with every question, comment and concern in mind.” Development Services spokesman Kevin Lee said in an email.

The next meeting is set to begin at 11 a.m. Saturday at Best Western Golden Sails Hotel, 6285 Pacific Coast Highway. The final meeting is set for 6 p.m. Oct. 18 at Expo Arts Center, 4321 Atlantic Ave.