In a compromise designed to appease Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, the City Council on Tuesday took the first step toward revising a law giving downtown developers a way to increase the size of their buildings, the Los Angeles Times reports.
The mayor vetoed the law last month, and the maneuver by the 15-member council on Tuesday allows them to avoid, for now, attempting to garner the 10 votes needed to override the veto.
“At this point, I don’t think an override is necessary, but the door is still open,” said Councilwoman Jan Perry, whose district includes much of downtown and would benefit from the new law.
The so-called air rights law would allow the city to sell 9 million square feet of theoretical space over the two- and three-story Los Angeles Convention Center because city zoning laws would have allowed it to be much taller.
For example, a developer that under city zoning laws could build a 13-story building could buy the rights to enough extra square feet to make it taller.
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