AT ISSUE
The Los Angeles City Planning Department is finalizing the ‘Hollywood Community Plan Update’ which will define how land can be used in the future.
The proposed land-use plan will lock in what kinds of new real estate developments (heights, size, parking requirements, etc.) are allowed by law. The plan now recommends UP-ZONING portions of Los Feliz to allow denser, taller, wider buildings with less parking requirements.
The earlier planning process included input from many citizens and groups addressing what makes sense for our neighborhood. Learn more: Hollywood Community Policy Update.
WHAT SUDDENLY CHANGED
City Councilmember, Nithya Raman, has asked the planning department to eliminate height restrictions on Hillhurst Avenue, to allow for taller, denser structures, exceeding our current “low-rise” height of 36′.
Raman’s unilateral request sought no community input or feedback, nor any review of case studies gauging the impacts where high-rises have been constructed. Have people given up their cars for the Metro? Does vehicle traffic decrease? Are low-income units managed to ensure they go to the most deserving and remain available for low-income residents? Has homelessness decreased in these areas?
THE IMPACT
Once up-zoned, land values skyrocket, and the development project economics change so that only larger, denser buildings can become profitable; big buildings rule, forever changing Los Feliz’s landscape.
The Hollywood Community Plan with its emphasis on high-rises and luxury hotels has been likened to “Century City East.” The plan covers Los Feliz, both our quaint and charming shopping district and our major thoroughfares: Franklin Avenue, Hillhurst Avenue, Vermont Avenue, Western Avenue, and Los Feliz Boulevard.
The LFIA opposes these sudden proposed land-use changes, and is dismayed they are being fast-tracked (without community input) into a plan that has been worked on for years (WITH community input).
WHAT YOU CAN DO
Let City officials elected and appointed to represent you know how you feel.
The next meeting of the city planning commission is March 18 at 8:30 am. Let them know that Raman’s request to eliminate height restrictions does NOT represent the feelings of the community and was sent without any input from the residents. It’s important that concerned citizens show up and speak at the meeting. If you’re not able to do so, you can contact the commission:
City Planning Commission: cpc@lacity.org
And let Nithya Raman know that she needs to work WITH the community:
phone: 213-473-7004
e-mail: contactCD4@lacity.org, nithya.raman@lacity.org, sarah.tanberg@lacity.org
City Planning Staff (who worked on the plan):
Priya Mehendale priya.mehendale@lacity.org
Sophia Kim sophia.kim@lacity.org
Linda Lou linda.lou@lacity.org
Quetzalli Enrique quetzalli.enrique@lacity.org
WHAT YOU CAN SAY
As a Los Feliz stakeholder, I’m concerned the proposed Hollywood Community Plan Update has undergone last-minute changes that have not be properly or adequately reviewed by the community at large. City Councilmember, Nithya Raman, has requested changes that have had little or no community input, nor accurately represent the viewpoints of the residents she purportedly represents. If the plan is to be modified from the previous versions that did receive input, then the community should be allowed to make their thoughts known before any final approval is given.
