On the heels of a report that found that Los Angeles County’s homelessness is outpacing efforts to build new dwellings, the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved $43.6 million in funds for 500 affordable housing units across the region.

A total of nine developments would be constructed and spread out in cities and communities including Lancaster, Long Beach, South Gate and in unincorporated areas of Athens-Westmont, East Los Angeles, and Willowbrook.

Funding for the projects would come from the county’s Affordable Housing Trust, and an outline of the environment in 500 was recently released.

The approval was made on the same day the Board voted 4 to 1 to instruct the Department of Regional Planning to prepare four ordinances to help address affordable housing needs in the unincorporated areas of the County. The ordinances, which will be presented and voted on at a later date, propose to expand the supply of affordable housing by:

Easing restrictions on motel conversions;

Changing zoning laws to allow multifamily housing development in commercial zones;

Requiring market-rate developers to include a small percentage of affordable homes in new developments, also known as inclusionary housing;

Helping to protect the existing supply of affordable housing.

The roots for the proposed ordinances arise from the 750-page Affordable Housing Action Plan created by the planning department. The report’s authors found that Los Angeles County needs to add 17,116 housing units for people with lower incomes. The report found between 2014 and 2016, the unincorporated areas added only 226 units for people who fit the criteria.

Kuehl acknowledged that the county was experiencing both a housing and homeless crisis and local lawmakers need to look at various options. The federal government, she added, has cut the number of Section 8 vouchers issued.

“The County is making historic investments in addressing homelessness, but we face a daunting housing crisis fueled by unaffordably high rents that put many families just one personal crisis away from finding themselves on the street,” Kuehl said in a statement. “These ordinances will strengthen our efforts to stem the homeless crisis as well as help keep people in their homes by expanding affordable housing.”

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The Board’s approvals come after a recent report from the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority revealed that homelessness was outpacing the number of housing and rental units made available through funding made available by two tax measures passed by the city and county of Los Angeles County voters last year.

For example, 17,131 permanent homes can be funded through 2018, but another 21,275 are needed, according to the LAHSA report.

Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas said the proposed ordinances will not solve the housing issue alone, but still are worth examining.

“It’s nowhere near the amount of housing needed for what appears to be an insatiable demand,” Ridley-Thomas said. “We know there is a lot to be done. We must do this work with a sens of urgency. The crisis in some ways is not only daunting, but outpacing us. We must remain ever vigilant in the face of this crisis.”

Supervisor Kathryn Barger said she disagreed with at least one of the proposed ordinances, which would ask developers to set aside some units for affordable housing, also known as inclusionary housing.

She said she was concerned because the proposal could make make some homes too expensive to those who want to move up to new homes.

“Government needs to get out of the way, not in the way,” she said.

Many members of the public applauded the board’s efforts to look into such ordinances, including Rev. Dr. Harold Kidd, who has led the congregation at Inglewood First Presbyterian for 17 years. He said he’s seen seen a lot of members of his church leave the area.

“Our congregation has lost members because they could no longer live in Inglewood, in Hawthorne or in California, and have relocated to the South,” Kidd said. “There are a number of persons leaving the community. It’s musical chairs because they cannot afford the escalation of rents.”

But while several members of the public agreed with Kidd, several organizations, including the Building industry Association and BizFed sided with Barger, saying they were concerned with any kind of inclusionary housing policy.

Stuart Waldman, president of the Valley Industry Commerce Association, said the only way to solve the housing crisis was to build more homes. He said inclusionary housing policies work against that goal.

“Today’s action by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors has many elements which would be positive for improving the housing supply in our region,” Waldman said in a statement. “We urge the Board to support these policies, but to exercise extreme caution when considering an inclusionary housing element which will drive up housing costs for families.”