Dear Downtown Stakeholder,
We appreciate your continued engagement with the Downtown Community Plan and the new Zoning Code throughout its development and ongoing adoption process. City Planning is pleased to transmit the City Planning Commission (CPC) Recommended Draft and Final Environmental Impact Report of the Downtown Community Plan and new Zoning Code for consideration by the City Council’s Planning and Land Use (PLUM) Committee.
Today’s Release
The City Planning Commission recommended approval of the Downtown Los Angeles Community Plan and New Zoning Code on September 23, 2021. The CPC’s Recommended Draft of the Downtown Plan and New Zoning Code and letter of determination can be found here.
Included with today’s release is an additional memo from City Planning to the Council’s PLUM Committee that includes discussion of three topics wherein the CPC requested that additional study be provided to PLUM: an analysis of the garment industry within Downtown’s Fashion District; an analysis of Live/Work dwelling unit standards as required in the Arts District; and an evaluation of the feasibility of requiring affordable dwelling units in Adaptive Reuse projects. Where relevant, City Planning’s memo includes optional modifications to the CPC’s recommended zoning and other ordinances that PLUM may make. This memo also includes discussion and optional modifications that represent emerging topics raised to City Planning by Council Districts 14 and 1, as well as the Cultural Heritage Commission (CHC) through various letters and discussions.
As requested by Council District 14, City Planning has prepared an economic feasibility study for a mandatory onsite affordable housing requirement (inclusionary zoning) that may be considered by PLUM as a means to strengthen affordable housing production in Downtown. Among other considerations, this report assessed from an economic perspective how affordable housing obligations can be set to maximize affordable housing feasibility. This Summary of Feasibility Results for an Inclusionary Housing Ordinance in Downtown Los Angeles can be found here.
Findings from additional studies, the Analysis for the Fashion Industry in Downtown, Summary of Survey of Live-Work Ordinances, Summary of Feasibility Results for Community Benefit Requirements on Adaptive Reuse Projects, and Summary of Feasibility Results for Non-residential Projects are also available.
A Sustainable, Equitable, and Inclusive Future for Downtown Los Angeles
The Downtown Community Plan describes a collective vision for Downtown’s future and includes planning policies, plans, and implementation programs that frame the City’s long-term priorities. Downtown will have the first Community Plan in the City to apply new zoning tools developed as part of the comprehensive update to the City of Los Angeles’s Zoning Code.
Since its inception in 2014, this Plan has evolved in response to a wide range of stakeholder input. This Plan seeks to address many of the challenges facing Downtown and the larger region, such as climate change, housing demand and affordability, and a shifting economy, through strategies that guide thoughtful growth. Acknowledging an unjust history and current conditions, the programs and policies proposed in this Plan aim to begin the process of equitably meeting the needs of various stakeholder communities in the plan area and reduce racial disparities, especially those unequally present in indigenous, historic cultural communities, low-income communities, and communities of color.
The following core principles represent the long-term priorities for the Downtown Community Plan:
- Accommodate growth in an inclusive, equitable, sustainable, and healthy manner
- Reinforce Downtown’s jobs orientation and provide a range of employment opportunities
- Grow and support the residential base, including a full spectrum of affordable housing
- Preserve and strengthen social, cultural, and historic identity
- Create linkages between districts
- Create a world-class public realm
- Promote a transit-, bicycle-, and pedestrian-friendly environment
Planning and Land Use Committee Meeting
The Council File number for the Downtown Los Angeles Community Plan Update is CF 22-0617. If you wish to submit comments, you can do so online with the Public Comment Form.
Sign up to receive future notice when the Plan Update will be considered by the City Council’s Planning and Land Use Management (PLUM) Committee and then the full City Council for adoption.
We thank you for your continued interest and participation in the Downtown Community Plan and new Zoning Code efforts.
