Strategy in Action

Tool: Community Benefits Agreements

In an overhaul of its zoning code, the City of Long Beach, California, released the UPLAN Zoning District Recommendations, which includes a model community benefits agreement for use with new development projects. Developers that implement the CBA provisions can qualify for exemptions from the city’s maximum floor area limitations and parking requirements. Intended to keep local businesses in their neighborhoods, the CBA stipulates that new developments should provide “historic market rate” rents for local businesses, defined as a base rent that averages the previous three years of rent and limits annual rent increases to 4%. A primary goal of UPLAN is to build community power and capacity-building by supporting the needs of renters and people of color in the zoning process.