Long Beach Police Department

North Division Commander's Forum | Thursday, Feb. 12

Join LBPD North Division's Commander Isiah Hughes at his upcoming Commander's Forum on Thursday, February 12th at 6pm at the North Division Substation (4891 Atlantic Ave).

This is a great opportunity to connect with your area Commander, hear updates, ask questions, and get to know the officers in your patrol division. For more information, call (562) 570 9700 or email LBPDNorth@longbeach.gov.

Community Development Department

Zone In: Bixby Project Hearing at Planning Commission | Feb. 19

This week, the Community Development Department shared that, after more than two years of engagement and technical work, the final proposal for Zone In: Bixby is officially scheduled for a Planning Commission hearing on Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026, at 5pm in the City Hall Chambers.

Zone In: Bixby is part of the city’s larger Zone In Initiative, a systematic rezoning and municipal zoning code update intended to allow Long Beach to meet existing and future housing needs, while creating more complete communities where housing, jobs, and shopping are located more closely together and with access to quality public transportation. Throughout the process, they have sought community input through community walks, open house events, and virtual workshops, and the team is now ready to present their proposal at an official public hearing before the Planning Commission this month.

The official Notice of Public Hearing (NPH) and the zoning and Land Use Element maps for the project are available for public review at all Long Beach Public Library branches as well online at longbeach.gov/lbcd/planning/current/commission/public-hearings.

For those looking to submit public input leading up to the hearing, you can submit comments to the Planning Commission by emailing PlanningCommission@longbeach.gov. Additionally, we encourage all who may be interested in continued updates on this project to sign up for the Community Development Department’s project email list. In the meantime, learn more about Zone In: Bixby at the project webpage. 

District 5 Office

CD5 Community Meeting | Thursday, Feb. 26

Join us for the next CD5 Community Meeting, being held on Thursday, Feb. 26, at 6pm at the Expo Arts Center (4321 Atlantic Ave), where we will be joined by Fire Chief Dennis Buchanan, as well as the Community Crisis Response (CCR) Team.

For those who may not know, the CCR Team is a team of specialized, non-law-enforcement personnel that responds to non-medical, non-violent calls for service that are focused on behavioral health and quality of life challenges. When a resident calls 9-1-1 or LBPD Non-emergency, certain calls involving mental health crises, suicidal individuals, public intoxications, welfare checks, or disturbances can be dispatched to the CCR Team, so they can provide intervention support, de-escalation, general health education, basic needs supplies, resource navigation, transportation assistance, and other supportive services. We look forward to having them join us at our next meeting so we can all learn more about the ways they support our residents and complement our emergency response teams. 

While not required, we ask that you please RSVP to help us prepare adequate seating. We hope to see you there!

Long Beach Utilities

Gas Surveys on Residential Meters

Maintaining their commitment to public safety, Long Beach Utilities (LBU) will start conducting surveys on residential gas meters beginning this month. This is part of a 3-year maintenance schedule LBU abides by, to inspect every residential gas meter in the city. These surveys are a proactive safety measure designed to identify and prevent gas leaks and corrosion, and can help ensure the long-term integrity of your gas service, early detection of potential issues before they become hazards, and compliance with federal and state safety regulations.

In the coming weeks, trained LBU technicians may periodically visit your property to perform these quick and non-invasive surveys. Conducting the survey may require LBU employees to enter your property line, but they will never demand to enter the inside of the physical structure of your home. Gas meters and associated infrastructure are often found in areas such as front-, side-, and/or backyards, and LBU staff will need access to these areas to conduct a full inspection of a natural gas meter. All LBU technicians are required carry City of Long Beach identification and may provide supervisor contact information upon request. Learn more about gas inspections and natural gas safety at lbutilities.org.

Los Angeles Regional Water Board

Former Foasberg Site Environmental Investigation & Cleanup

Earlier this week, my office received this fact sheet from the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board (LA Water Board), providing information on the status of environmental investigations and cleanup at the Former Foasberg Laundry & Cleaners (Foasberg) property located at 640 E Wardlow Rd. Investigation and cleanup activities are being conducted by the former site owner and operator, Foasberg, under the direction of the LA Water Board. The document provides some important updates on groundwater conditions, environmental test findings, and remediation efforts due to regulatory actions, as well as links to additional information regarding the site. I encourage those who may be interested in the next steps for this site to review the fact sheet to learn more.  

Long Beach Transit

Carson St. Detour Alert | Effective Jan. 27 - May 15

Due to construction work on Carson St., transit users should expect impacts to nearby Long Beach Transit (LBT) service throughout the duration of the project. There will be intermittent detours and bus stop closures on Routes 101 and 103, effective now through Friday, May 15.

Plan your trip by contacting LBT’s Customer Care team at (562) 591 2301, downloading your transit app of choice, or visiting ridelbt.com.

Rosa Parks - Transit Equity Day

Earlier this week, on February 4th, we remembered Rosa Parks’ birthday, and honored her legacy in celebration of Transit Equity Day. Rosa Parks became a pivotal figure of the Civil Rights Movement when she refused to give up her seat on a city bus in Alabama. Her arrest, and the Montgomery Bus Boycott that followed, sparked one of the first major movements to challenge racial segregation in the US. In her honor, LBT reminds us that “transit is more than movement, it is access to education, employment, health care, independence, and community connection.”

LBT Wants Your Feedback

Long Beach Transit (LBT) wants to hear from you! Take this short survey to share what you want to see in the Community Connector, LBT’s monthly digital newsletter. Participants will be entered into a drawing for a chance to win a Visa gift card and LBT swag. For all the latest news and updates related to LBT, sign up for the Community Connector today!

Office of Sustainability

Request a Free Parkway Tree!

As you may recall, per my request in the Fiscal Year 2026 (FY26) Budget, the city has allocated funding in support of prioritizing increased tree plantings in CD5 neighborhoods near the airport. As with the trees recently planted in Cal Heights, we are now seeing some of those plantings occurring in our neighborhoods! Planting trees contributes to our urban canopy, which helps keep communities cooler and mitigate air quality concerns.

Have an empty space in your parkway that could benefit from a city tree? Reach out to the Office of Sustainability’s Tree Planting Team at TreeRequest@longbeach.gov or (562) 570 7483. If you can commit to helping water the tree, particularly in its crucial first year after planting, the team will provide a city tree for free! Choose a tree from the approved list or let the team help select what species might fit best on your street, and sign the Tree Maintenance Agreement form, to be added to the planting list. Visit the Tree Planting Program webpage to learn more and request your free tree today! 

The Tree Planting team works hard to ensure the trees chosen for parkways are set up for success. Many of the trees being planted are California natives! As a reminder, even some of these trees are deciduous species, meaning they may appear dormant in the winter. However, with proper watering and care, they are still alive and growing!

Community Shout Out

Local Music Program Named 2026 Advocacy in Action Award Recipent

Last month, Music for All, a nonprofit educational organization, announced two Long Beach Unified Schools as recipients of the 2026 Advocacy in Action Awards: Cesar Chavez and Los Cerritos Elementary Schools! These awards highlight educators and programs that have created an event or idea that is exceptional in their field and community.

Los Cerritos and Cesar Chavez Elementaries were awarded in the “Elementary Excellence” category for “The Classroom Drum Circle Project.” Since the fall of 2017, “The Classroom Drum Circle Project” has benefited and furthered education by providing K-5 students and students with disabilities a creative learning modality that offers differentiated music instruction opportunities for enhanced student growth. The program takes place at Los Cerritos, McKinley, and Webster Elementary Schools, offering students a hands-on approach to Music Education that is fun and helps meet scholars in their zone of proximal development.

Congratulations to our local teachers, school administrators, parents, and community members for your contributions to providing innovative music education for our students and for earning this significant recognition that may inspire other programs to follow. Keep up the great work!