Dear Angelenos,

At the top of this month, City Planning announced the release of the Landscape and Site Design Ordinance for public review and feedback. In alignment with Mayor Bass’ Executive Directive (ED) No. 7, the new Ordinance streamlines implementation and improves interdepartmental coordination. The Ordinance will clearly articulate the City’s design priorities, yet through a streamlined review process. It will ensure that projects built citywide incorporate high-quality, environmentally sensitive design features.

The new Ordinance amends the City’s current landscape rules to respond to the link of public health outcomes with the built environment. Using a performance-based approach, the new Ordinance recalibrates the point-based system in place today to better link site design, climate resilience, livability, and strategies for environmental design.

This draft is a result of extensive community engagement over the last two years, including feedback from public health officials, architects and landscape architects, community- based organizations, and partner agencies. It underscores City Planning and Mayor Karen Bass’ commitment toward making housing more affordable and livable, with an approach that stays connected and welcoming to existing communities.

Together, we are #Planning4LA.

Sincerely,

Los Angeles City Planning recently launched part two of a four-part social media video series with LA in a Minute content creator Evan Lovett, which focused on the proposed Opportunity Corridors Incentive Area Program, which envisions livable and sustainable communities by increasing housing capacity along major streets to provide greater access to daily amenities, jobs, and transit. To learn more about what an Opportunity Corridor is, how it addresses LA’s housing needs, and where these corridors are proposed throughout the City, visit Planning4LA.org/CHIP! Please share your feedback with us at housingelement@lacity.org.

On April 13, City Planning’s Housing Element Rezoning Program team joined the monthly PlanCheck NC Alliance meeting to give an overview on the Citywide Housing Incentive Program (CHIP), the Housing Element Sites Ordinance, and the Resident Protections Ordinance. Senior City Planner Matthew Glesne, City Planner Wajiha Ibrahim, and City Planner Theadora Trindle provided program highlights which included draft ordinance language explaining how City Planning is implementing programs according to the Plan to House LA. Roughly 64 community members attended the hour-long presentation and follow-up Q&A session. Participants raised questions and concerns related to CHIP incentives for new developments along with additional potential benefits that may come for neighborhood councils adapting to these programs.

Earlier this month, the CHIP team also held a series of webinars about these ordinances in English, Spanish and Korean. The webinar recordings are available on the Department’s website here.

On Sunday April 21, the Venice, the Westside Community Plans and the Venice Local Coastal Program (LCP) Teams, the Housing Policy Unit, and the Government Relations Unit had the pleasure of speaking with over 100 people at CicLAVia. The team shared with cyclists details about the draft Land Use Maps for the Westside neighborhoods (i.e. West LA, Venice, Palms - Mar Vista - Del Rey, and Westchester - Playa del Rey), the Venice LCP, housing in LA and general questions regarding the Department and the City of LA. For more information about the updates, please visit our websites Planning the Westside and Venice LCP. Stay tuned as we move these programs forward!

Between February and May, the Office of Racial Justice, Equity, and Transformative Planning (ORJETP) has focused on engaging with stakeholders who are eager to learn about the history and mission that drives the office’s work. For the second consecutive year, the ORJETP participated in the AARP California Planning Academy, an educational program available to civic-minded individuals, especially those over the age of 50, who want to impact their communities by participating in the planning process. The objective of the program is to help AARP members understand how past, present, and future planning and land use practices shape communities, particularly in the context of equity pertaining to quality of life.

Recognizing the enduring impact of these decisions on neighborhoods, this year's presentation emphasizes the importance of design and access to public amenities such as transportation facilities, bus shelters, and neighborhood parks. The ORJETP welcomes engagement with organizations like AARP, as an opportunity to center discussion and policy around groups who have been underrepresented by traditional planning processes.

Applications filed and completed declined by 5.3% and 3.9%, respectively, between February 2024 and March 2024. After several months of strong growth, the number of affordable units proposed for entitlement increased from 1,057 in February to 1,294 in March.

Los Angeles’s tradition as a laboratory of architectural innovation is so well established that it continued despite the economically dismal 1970s. Located at 1725 S. Selby Avenue in Westwood, this 1977 condo deftly manages to squeeze three units onto a constricted site. Chales Moore, the architect, reconciled spatial relationships at an intimate scale while maintaining a sense of privacy for the residents. With its plain stucco walls, picture windows of various sizes, and elongated monopitch roof, this building is typical of Moore’s work and stands as an influential example of Postmodernist architecture. Unlike Modernist buildings, which tended to be clean and unified, Postmodern buildings often embraced messiness and complexity. This resulted in a building that appears haphazard from the street, but reconciles various constraints and discreetly integrates into its surroundings. Moore himself resided in one of the units for ten years, outfitting the interior with a collection of decorative elements salvaged from other buildings and organizing his own unit around a large continuous staircase. It continues to function as private residences today, but its influence can be seen throughout Southern California and the Sunbelt region. To learn more, see the City’s Postmodernism historic context statement, published by City Planning’s Office of Historic Resources in 2018.

May 9, 23

Central: May 14, 28

South Los Angeles: May 7, 21

South Valley: May 9, 23

West: May 1, 15

East: May 8, 22

Harbor: May 7, 21

North Valley: May 2, 16

May 2, 16

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