Pinyon released some Frequently Asked Questions and answered them on their website. Let’s take a closer look at what Pinyon says. You’ll see Pinyon’s answers first, then a response to those answers.

What is Avenue 34?

“Avenue 34 is a re-imagined version of a multifamily project that will be located at the intersection of Pasadena Avenue and Avenue 34, across from what used to be Mom’s Tamales (now Carnes Asadas Pancho Lopez). Avenue 34 will have a smaller footprint than the originally approved design, but will feature more housing, open space, and include the planting of over 200+ trees.” 

“Avenue 34” is actually a brand new design, not a re-imagining of another project, as Pinyon likes to say. It will introduce 468 apartments onto a single block in Lincoln Heights. A different use of this site was proposed in 2016 that was completely different from this one, and included leaving the oldest historical building from the 1920’s intact. The 2020 design has a footprint of 207,338 sq-ft. That’s 3,378 sq-ft larger than the 2016 design. The total square footage of the 2020 project is 35,229 sq-ft larger than the 2016 design. The 2016 design included planting 241 trees, but the 2020 design lowers that to 219. Also, you can see from Pinyon’s plans and renderings that these will be scrubby bushes and saplings that will never grow into the majestic towering pines that exist on the property now.

Is Avenue 34 a luxury development?

“No, Avenue 34 is not a luxury development project. This project is envisioned to be a vibrant part of the neighborhood, with moderately sized apartments that are accessibly-priced for people who live and work in or want to return to Lincoln Heights.”

The Most Lincoln Heights residents will not be able to live here. People who have been priced out of this neighborhood are highly unlikely to be able to return by renting in this building. This development will raise rents in Lincoln Heights. Pinyon has not released the prices of their apartments, and so we just have to take their word for it that they will be “accessibly-priced.” We demand more deed-restricted affordable units.

How much housing will Avenue 34 really provide, and who is it for?

“Avenue 34 will provide 468 rental apartments. Of the 468 apartments, 250 units will be at workforce housing rents, and 66 will be deed-restricted low-income affordable housing, including 13 2-bedroom family units. From nurses to teachers, to retail and service workers, to firefighters and other first responders, Avenue 34 will provide housing for people who live and work in Lincoln Heights.”

Our community has argued that with 468 units, more than only 66 should be affordable. That’s only 14%! This project will drop as many as 1,500 people who are not from here into this neighborhood. Instant gentrification! This phrase “workforce housing” is a vague and unenforceable term, currently popular among developers. (Link) Pinyon is adopting this term to manipulate people into supporting this project ahead of the appeal hearing, but they’ll be able to set the rents at whatever rate they want once they build the apartments, or when they sell the entire project off to other investors. Pinyon is really trying to pull on your heart-strings by saying these apartments will be for nurses and first responders! That is not enforceable, and you can’t give people apartments based on their occupations.

I heard that the site was contaminated?

“Avenue 34 is located on a site that has no hazardous materials or signs of contamination. The neighboring vacant site to the north met the Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) standards for clean up in 2016, as documented by DTSC’s closure letter dated July 2016. The site has been analyzed by multiple third-party consultants - the Phase I Environmental Site Assessment (in addition to 30 soil borings) has indicated it is not impacted by subsurface contamination. The site is not contaminated.”

The Department of Toxic Substance Control has confirmed that the site is highly contaminated with over a dozen toxic chemicals, some at levels thousands of times higher than the safe limit for residences. The toxic waste on the Avenue 34 property includes PCE, TCE, Petroleum, Vinyl Chloride, Arsenic, Lead, Mercury, Benzene, and more. These chemicals can cause cancer, brain damage, vision failure, immune disorders, muscle failure, liver and kidney failure, birth defects, and more.

Pinyon’s lawyer specializes in getting properties built on polluted sites. They know exactly what they’re doing. This is being built right next to a site where Welch’s industrial dry cleaning dumped toxic waste into the soil from 1920-1988. When California realized what was going on there, they shut Welch’s down, all the buildings were destroyed, and the State forced the landowners to start cleaning up the soil and contaminated groundwater. (Link) In 2016 the DTSC agreed that, although there is still pollution in the soil and groundwater, they could stop actively cleaning Welch’s site, but what Pinyon leaves out of their story is that DTSC requires the owners of Welch’s site to test the soil every year, and DTSC said they would require them to sign a Land Use Covenant promising to never let that land be used for residences! (Link) The Phase 1 report that Pinyon cites has major flaws. It misrepresents the direction of the groundwater, suggesting that the pollution has traveled away from Pinyon’s property. In fact, the polluted groundwater has been carrying pollution through Pinyon’s property for as long as 100 years! Although Welch’s site has benefitted from cleanup, Pinyon’s site has never had any cleanup, despite decades of pollution freely flowing through it. The Avenue 34 site also used to be an electronics factory, which used many of the same toxic chemicals as the dry cleaners. Avenue 34 is much more polluted than Welch’s site, a property that the State says is too dangerous to ever build apartments on.

What about traffic and safety?

“Avenue 34 will encourage and support neighborhood street life, walkability, bikeability, etc. We are adding crosswalks at the intersection of Avenue 34 and Pasadena, including a pedestrian-activated, signalized crosswalk to help neighbors get across Pasadena Avenue safely. We will also install additional wayfinding and safety signage on Avenue 34 and Artesian Street, and improve Avenue 34 sidewalks consistent with the City’s Vision Zero Policy. In addition, we will also add a flashing signal to indicate “No Right Turn” and/or “Train Approaching” at the Gold Line train crossing on Avenue 33 and Artesian, to ensure that pedestrians and vehicles traverse safely.”

The DOT estimates that this project will create 2026 car trips every day! They anticipate it will have a major impact on intersections several miles away, including Figueroa / Avenue 26 and at Five Points - Avenue 26 / Daly. The city is requiring Pinyon to install the newest traffic signals there, because they know it will be a real problem otherwise. Also, this project’s parking lot exits onto Artesian St, a one-way blind-corner with no sidewalks or street lamps that is only 14 feet wide, and ends at a railroad crossing. It is also shared by pedestrians and bicyclists. This is inviting real danger.

Won’t construction be disruptive?

“Unfortunately, construction can impact businesses and residents in the immediate vicinity but Avenue 34 will work closely with the community to ensure a speedy construction process with minimal disruption to the community. This means working closely with the Department of Transportation to map out hauling routes that avoid the smaller side streets, and avoiding routes past the school during periods when school is in session or students are arriving or departing from campus. An 8-foot tall, temporary sound barrier will also be constructed along the south and east property line to minimize noise levels at off-site properties. Avenue 34 will also have a local hiring and apprenticeship program to ensure the economic benefits of construction activity are shared with members of the community.”

Yes, it will be. The construction will last at least 3 years. It will involve demolishing old buildings that were made with asbestos and lead paint. They will dig up 91,000 cubic-yards of possibly cancer-causing soil. They will have harmful diesel trucks carting this soil, making perhaps 13,000 trips. If toxic vapors are exposed, it will be harmful to the construction workers and nearby residents and workers. Hillside Elementary is across the street, and all those children could be exposed to the dangers of sound pollution, dust pollution, diesel pollution, and construction traffic.

What about all the retail? Won’t all those extra people take away my street parking?

“Avenue 34 will feature 16,000 sf of community retail. This means possible coffee shops, corner markets, banks, or other retail uses the community may need. Retail visitors will have dedicated parking on the first floor of the subterranean parking garage. Furthermore, to discourage on-street parking by Avenue 34 residents and retail customers, the project team will work with the neighbors to make the four block area around the project a preferential parking district (PPD). Existing residents, business owners, and employees will be able to obtain special tags for this preferential parking area. Avenue 34 residents will be prohibited from street parking within the PPD through their leases.”

1,400 new residents will be dropped onto this block, and the will only have 286 parking spaces. Pinyon says that most of their tenants will walk or use public transportation. The closest grocery store is 2 miles away. There are only 2 small restaurants within 2 miles. How many of the people who can afford these fancy new apartments won’t also own a car? This apartment complex is surrounded by other apartments and homes. There are not enough walkable services here 1,500 people. Pinyon will dedicate 25 parking spaces for all that retail space. They estimate there will be 28 employees. How many parking spaces does that leave? Some people in the neighborhood have supported the idea of the preferential parking district, because many people who live here don’t have driveways to park their own cars. But Pinyon can’t guarantee that they will be able to create a PPD.

What about all those trees on Avenue 34?

We can all agree trees and parks are vital to all communities and neighborhoods. Avenue 34 is helping to beautify the neighborhood by planting 219 trees (in addition to other succulents, shrubs, grasses, and other ground cover). The project team is also planning to relocate some of the mature trees currently along Avenue 34 elsewhere on the site for continued community enjoyment, and will plan new, mature trees along Avenue 34. The pocketparks between the retail spaces on Pasadena will be open to the public during business hours, meaning the community will be able to enjoy many mature trees; new ones, as well as any existing mature trees on-site that we are able to transplant successfully.

Pinyon plans to remove all the beautiful, tall, mature trees. These are the only substantial trees on this block. They will replace them with shrubs and low-growing desert trees that will never grow to replace these majestic trees. These trees serve as one of the only barriers on this block to the pollution from the 110 Freeway. They are frequented by owls, ravens, parrots, and many other birds. 

Why does the Avenue 34 project matter to Lincoln Heights?

This project provides housing at a time when we are facing an acute housing shortage - it helps alleviate the strain on Lincoln Height’s existing housing supply by providing much needed housing without displacing any existing residences. In 2017, 5.3 million households, or 41% of California’s total households, were cost-burdened, paying more than 30% of their incomes on housing. This has only worsened since the pandemic. The primary factor contributing to high housing prices is its severe underproduction over time. In other words, the larger issue here is that there is high demand for, but short supply of, housing.

The Avenue 34 project matters to Lincoln Heights because it will create massive gentrification, it will displace neighbors and local businesses, and it will raise our rents. These kinds of buildings get built all over the city, and still many apartments sit vacant, while people can’t afford them and sleep on the streets outside. In fact, when nearby landlords see the kinds of rents this building is getting, they could be tempted to raise their own tenants’ rents, or to sell their properties to other developers like Pinyon. Local businesses will face the same pressures, as their landlords look for new businesses who can pay higher rents and will cater to Pinyon’s tenants. We have all seen this happening in other neighborhoods in Los Angeles.

How can we be sure that the affordable housing that is promised will really be provided? 

Avenue 34 is “front loading” the affordable housing, meaning that to ensure that they deliver the affordable units first, all of the affordable units will be located in Buildings A and B, the first two structures to be completed. The affordable units will be located throughout the two buildings, reflecting the same unit mix, size, and locations of the market rate units, as required and enforced by the Los Angeles Housing + Community Investment Department (HCID). Also, all of the units - market rate, workforce, and low-income - feature the same exact finishes. All residents will have similarly modern and comfortable accommodations. The team is committed to partnering with local non-profits on an inclusive, community-based affirmative marketing campaign to ensure Lincoln Heights residents have every opportunity to apply for the affordable housing units.

We can’t be sure of this. There is no agency that conducts regular continuous oversight for this kind of affordable housing to make sure that landlords are honoring their promises. We just have to take Pinyon’s word for it. Pinyon has been lying to us since they started this project, and they are lying in these FAQ’s. We should not trust them. We need third-party oversight to make sure that they give this community the affordable housing they are promising. Also, it’s not right to put all the affordable apartments in one part of the property, and to have another part of the property that won’t have any low-income renters, as they admit they will be doing. That is discrimination and segregation.