The Mayor and the City Planning Department have proposed a five-year project to completely rewrite the Los Angeles Zoning Code. It would throw out all of the existing fixed zones and replace them with "dynamic" zones. There would be considerably less control exercised over height, density, interior building space and parking.
This project could be on a fast track through the City Council. It was originally scheduled to be heard by the Planning and Land Use committee on April 24. That is three working days after the Chief Administrative Officer referred its report to the committee. The hearing was later rescheduled for Tuesday, May 8.
It is unclear how the Zoning Code could be completely rewritten without also changing the city's master planning document, the General Plan. It is also unclear whether or not a rewritten Zoning Code would render moot the local protections that are contained in the city's many Specific Plans and Community Plans.
This is a major proposal that will affect every neighborhood in Los Angeles -- indeed, the character of the city as a whole.
The Council File number is 12-0460. To keep track of the issue and to read the documents, go the the City Clerk's Council File system, enter 12-0460 in the Simple Search field, and click the Search button: https://cityclerk.lacity.org/
For a taste of the dialog that is likely over the Mayor's Zoning Code proposal, check out the mixed reactions to the recently proposed revision to the Hollywood Community Plan. The New York Times article of March 28, 2012, reports both sides:
https://www.nytimes.com/2012/
(Content borrowed from panoramacitync.org)
