Garage Conversions

The article by Sharon Bernstein, “City Urged to Legalize Some Garage Units,” (May 14), talked about a plan to change the Los Angeles general plan to allow garage rental units in single-family areas. One of the comments made to justify this change is that “. . . it is the owners of single-family homes who are themselves choosing to rent out their garages.”

Those few owners who are doing that cannot be held up as forward-looking pioneers or humanitarians helping the poor. These are the very people who are breaking the law and putting many of their tenants at great risk, as shown by the fatalities in such unsafe units. Their motivation is nothing more than being able to make a few bucks.

The fact that there are many people who cannot find affordable housing in Los Angeles does not warrant a change in the law that would further propel our once great city down the slippery slope toward status as third-world.

The people who cannot afford the housing here can move to cheaper places both in and out of the state. This may seem cruel to proponents of the garage unit plan, but it is how this country has functioned and thrived since its inception. People move where there is affordable housing, employment opportunities and whatever else they might want. They shouldn’t expect the government to bring all the good stuff to them, especially to the detriment of the people who have been paying the taxes to build this city all these years.

BARRY RITTER

Northridge