Redevelopment Plan Procedures Reinstatement Ordinance

Dear Interested Stakeholder:
The Los Angeles City Council adopted the Redevelopment Plan Procedures Reinstatement Ordinance at its regular meeting on January 19, 2024. This Ordinance amends the Processes and Procedures Ordinance (Ordinance No. 187,712) to reinstate Section 11.5.14 (Redevelopment Plan Procedures) in Chapter 1 of the Los Angeles Municipal Code (LAMC). The Council’s adoption of the Ordinance will allow the City to continue processing applications within Redevelopment Project Areas.
Adopted in 2022, the Processes and Procedures Ordinance amended Chapter 1 of the LAMC and established Chapter 1A of the LAMC to reorganize the administrative processes and procedures related to zoning and land use entitlements. As part of this comprehensive update, Section 11.5.14 (Redevelopment Plan Procedures) was inadvertently omitted from Chapter 1 of the LAMC. This Ordinance is an administrative correction to reinstate Section 11.5.14 in Chapter 1 of LAMC and includes technical modifications to correct citations to processes and procedures that were updated and changed location by the Process and Procedures Ordinance. Lastly, the Ordinance removes references to the Chinatown and North Hollywood Redevelopment Plans, which have expired and are no longer enforceable.
As a reminder, additional information can be found in the fact sheet.
To access the Final Ordinance and to sign up to receive electronic notifications about the project, visit Council File: 12-0460-S7.
Thank you for your continued engagement with Los Angeles City Planning.

 

Redevelopment Plan Procedures Reinstatement Ordinance / Process and Procedures Ordinance / Los Angeles Municipal Code (LAMC) / Amendment

CF 12-0460-S7   AT PLUM 01/16/2024 

Exemption from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to CEQA Guidelines, Sections 15061(b)(3) and 15378(b)(5); report from City Attorney and draft Ordinance relative to reinstating Section 11.5.14 – Redevelopment Plan Procedures to Article 1.5 of the Los Angeles Municipal Code, Ordinance No. 187712, with technical modifications.

Fiscal Impact Statement: No

Community Impact Statement: None submitted

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11957, 11961, 11963 Allegheny Street / Development of a Community Park / Pacoima/Panorama City Redevelopment Project Area / Council District Six / Purchase and Sale Agreement

CF 19-0100  AT CITY COUNCIL 02/06/2019

MOTION (MARTINEZ – SMITH) relative to the acquisition and development of real property to accommodate a new park within the boundaries of the Pacoima/Panorama City Redevelopment Area.

Recommendations for Council action:

INSTRUCT the Department of General Services (GSD), with the assistance of the Department of Recreation and Parks (RAP) and City Attorney, to negotiate a purchase and sale agreement with the owner(s) of real property located at 11957, 11961, and 11963 Allegheny Street, Sun Valley, CA 91352 (A.P.N. 2631-001-017 and 2631-001-018), or, in consultation with Council District 6, pursue alternative sites suitable for development of a park within the boundaries of the Pacoima/Panorama City Redevelopment Project Area, and report to Council with the purchase price and other terms and conditions of the acquisition.

INSTRUCT GSD to conduct all required due diligence including, but not limited to, a Class A appraisal of the properties selected.


Click on the BLUE highlight to view official documents and reports.

  • 02/08/2019 Council action final. (February 8, 2019)
  • 02/06/2019 Council adopted item, subject to reconsideration, pursuant to Council Rule 51.  Motion (January 29, 2019)
  • 01/31/2019 City Clerk scheduled item for Council on February 6, 2019 . Motion (January 29, 2019)
  • 01/29/2019 Motion referred to Council (tentatively scheduled for February 5, 2019)  Motion (January 29, 2019)

 

Measure JJJ Transit Oriented Communities Incentives / Community Redevelopment Agency/Los Angeles (CRA/LA) / Redevelopment Plans

CF 18-1023 

PLANNING AND LAND USE MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE REPORT relative to various development projects that conflict with Measure JJJ’s Transit Oriented Communities (TOC) Incentives.

Recommendation for Council action, pursuant to Motion (O’Farrell – Huizar):

INSTRUCT the Department of City Planning (DCP), in consultation with the City Attorney, to report within 30 days, on the impact of the Community Redevelopment Agency/LA, A Designated Local Authority (CRA/LA-DLA) June 27, 2018 Memorandum, indicating that six City Redevelopment Plans have land use limitations that potentially detrimentally affect 25 development projects in Redevelopment Project areas, because they conflict with Measure JJJ’s TOC Incentives, and to provide: 1) an update on the status of 25 TOC projects; 2) information as to what development project applicants have been informed by staff regarding their filed applications or those filing applications; and 3) information as to any communication, if any, that has occurred between the DCP and CRA/LA-DLA as to the land use impacts/ramifications of the Memorandum.

Fiscal Impact Statement: Neither the City Administrative Officer nor the Chief Legislative Analyst has completed a financial analysis of this report.

Community Impact Statement: Yes.

For: Los Feliz Neighborhood Council


Click on the BLUE highlight to view official documents and reports.

  • 04/05/2019 Department of City Planning document(s) referred to Planning and Land Use Management Committee.  Report from City Planning (April 4, 2019)
  • 04/04/2019 Document(s) submitted by Department of City Planning, as follows:
    Department of City Planning report, dated April 4, 2019, relative to requesting a report back on the Community Redevelopment Agency / Los Angeles, a Designated Local Authority (CRA/LA-DLA) and Measure JJJ Transit Oriented Communities Incentives.  Report from City Planning (April 4, 2019)
  • 02/01/2019 Council action final.  (February 1, 2019)
  • 01/30/2019 Council adopted item, subject to reconsideration, pursuant to Council Rule 51.
  • 01/25/2019 City Clerk scheduled item for Council on January 30, 2019 .   PLUM Report (January 22, 2019)
  • 01/22/2019  Planning and Land Use Management Committee approved item(s) Motion (October 30, 2018)
  • 01/18/2019 Planning and Land Use Management Committee scheduled item for committee meeting on January 22, 2019. Motion (October 30, 2018)
  • 12/20/2018 Community Impact Statement submitted by Los Feliz Neighborhood Council,Los Feliz Neighborhood Council.  Refer to CF 18-1023  
  • 10/30/2018 Motion document(s) referred to Planning and Land Use Management Committee.  Motion (October 30, 2018)

 

ADVISORY MEMO ON APPLICATION OF TRANSIT ORIENTED COMMUNITIES (TOC) INCENTIVES IN CRA/LA REDEVELOPMENT PLAN AREAS

Executive Office Memo:  January 9, 2019

TOC applicants, including those who have filed applications and are in process, those who have received approvals from the Department or those who are by-right and cleared by the Department of Building and Safety, are advised to contact their assigned Department of City Planning project planner or the Department’s Housing Services Unit on options for compliance with City regulations as well as CRA/LA requirements. Planning staff are available to answer questions on potential alternative entitlement options via a consultation. The Department’s Housing Services staff are located on the 5th floor of the Development Services Center at 201 N. Figueroa St., or by calling (213) 202-5456.

Article: The rise of the ‘meanwhile space’: how empty properties are finding second lives

A market at Les Grands Voisins in Paris, formerly the Saint-Vincent-de-Paul hospital.
A market at Les Grands Voisins in Paris, formerly the Saint-Vincent-de-Paul hospital. Photograph: –

Hospitals are rarely places of cheer and creativity, but the former Saint-Vincent-de-Paul hospital in Paris’s 14th district is one of the most exciting places on the left bank. Former ambulance bays and car parks now house allotments, a boules court, a makeshift football pitch and an urban campsite, and up to 1,000 visitors a day come to browse its market, eat at its cafes or catch a free live performance.

Renamed Les Grands Voisins, or The Great Neighbours, the site is a magnet for Parisians and tourists alike, its former treatment rooms, A&E building and wards now a hub of social and commercial enterprise. Alongside a hostel providing 600 beds for the homeless are artisan studios, pop-up shops and startups.

“It’s like a village, an inclusive space with social areas and job opportunities where different people can interact,” says William Dufourcq, director of Aurore, the charity that runs the homeless shelter. “We were overwhelmed with its success.”

Closed since 2011, the hospital is slated for redevelopment into a new neighbourhood with eco credentials, private and social housing, shops, commercial and public facilities and green space. Planning, clearance and construction on such a large scale takes time and, rather than leave the 3.4-hectare site empty for years, the developer, Paris Batignolles Aménagement, opened it to local organisations rent-free. The lease was scheduled to end this year, but has been extended until mid-2020 while construction begins on other parts of the site.

Parisians enjoy the sunshine at Les Grands Voisins.
Parisians enjoy the sunshine at Les Grands Voisins

Les Grands Voisins is an example of a “meanwhile space”: a disused site temporarily leased or loaned by developers or the public sector to local community groups, arts organisations, start-ups and charities. Calls for making use of such spaces in other crowded urban centres are getting louder. A report published in October by the thinktank Centre for London highlights both the need for and positive possibilities of utilising empty urban sites and how this could transform the landscape of cities around the globe.

“The aim was to show the value ‘meanwhile use’ can add in cities where there is pressure on space,” says Nicolas Bosetti, one of the report researchers. He says public and private operators in Paris are more ambitious than those in London in exploring the use of disused buildings from metro stations to former nightclubs for short-term use as charity and cultural venues.

Other meanwhile spaces in Paris include Exelmans, a former police residence repurposed as a shelter for the homeless and refugees, run by Aurore on a two-year lease, and the Parmentier electricity substation, where the art collective La Générale has operated since 2008.

The substation, which is soon to be redeveloped, was included in Paris Reinvented, an initiative from the mayor’s office currently in its second year. Disused public sites are put up for auction to developers and architects who compete with plans for their redevelopment. “Les Grands Voisins showed how something like this can change an area and help plan future urban projects,” says Marion Waller, adviser to Paris’s deputy mayor for urban planning. “We didn’t want to sell buildings to the highest bidder but to the most innovative solution.”

A community graden at Les Grands Voisins.
The idea of loaning empty urban spaces to worthwhile causes is gaining ground elsewhere, with thriving projects in the Danish city of Aarhus and Philadelphia in the US, where it’s called “temporary urbanism”. However, in space-squeezed London, urban sites can remain empty for years, mainly because they have no obvious commercial potential or are waiting for permission to be developed.

The Centre for London found that an estimated 24,400 commercial properties in London are currently empty, with around half having been unused for more than two years. The total available vacant space, 6.5m sq metres, is equivalent to 27 times the footprint of Westfield London, Europe’s largest shopping centre. The majority of such places are owned by local authorities and developers. “Only one of 33 London borough councils publishes a database of vacant property and only one council keeps a list of groups interested in vacant spaces,” says Bosetti.

Bosetti thinks property owners could do more to match available sites with needy groups but says local authorities are afraid of squatters or allowing in destructive elements. “One of the main barriers to meanwhile use is the perception that hoarding a site is safer,” he says. “Often the opposite is true. Opening a site to a community and encouraging interaction with residents usually sees a reduction in antisocial activity.”

Squatting and vandalism are more likely if a building remains empty for too long, so one benefit of temporary tenants is the reduction in security costs. Another, according to Simon Hesketh, director of regeneration with the British developer U+I, is the connection a meanwhile space can forge with the community prior to redevelopment.

“We’ll try to organise events in temporary spaces for the widest cross-section of residents, to get their views and ask what they’d like and what works,” he says. “Not just to smooth the planning process, but because we can learn what we might include in our proposals.”

A former fire engine workshop on Lambeth High Street in London is temporarily hosting the Migration Museum and the Fire Brigade Museum.
 U+I, one of the sponsors of the Centre for London report, has already leased several sites awaiting redevelopment to small businesses and community organisations for temporary use. Hesketh acknowledges property owners worry about reclaiming the space when the tenancy ends but says everyone involved needs to be clear that the situation is temporary.

The Migration Museum in Lambeth is currently occupying part of the former engine workshop for the London fire service. “Having this site has been totally transformative for us,” says director Sophie Henderson. “It has allowed us to prove the concept of what we’re doing, while we look for a permanent home.”

The building is slated for redevelopment by U+I into a mixed-use scheme but is still going through the planning process. Until construction starts, the museum is one of several thriving community organisations granted the option to use it. “It’s been a tremendous gift,” says Henderson. “We couldn’t possibly have done what we have in the past year without it.”

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Transfer of Floor Area Rights (TFAR) / Public Benefit Payment Trust Fund

CF 14-1411-S3

Report from the Chief Legislative Analyst relative to the Transfer of Floor Area Rights Public Benefit Payment Trust Fund distribution.


Click on the green highlight to view official documents and reports.

  • 07/06/2018 Council action final.   Mayor Concurrence/Council Action (July 6, 2018)
  • 07/06/2018 Mayor transmitted Council File to City Clerk.
  • 07/05/2018 City Clerk transmitted file to Mayor. Last day for Mayor to act is July 16, 2018.
  • 07/03/2018 Council adopted item forthwith. Report from PLM (June 26, 2018)
  • 06/29/2018 City Clerk scheduled item for Council on July 3, 2018 . Report from PLM (June 26, 2018)
  • 06/26/2018 Planning and Land Use Management Committee approved item(s) .   Report from Chief Legislative Analyst (June 14, 2018)
  • 06/22/2018 Planning and Land Use Management Committee scheduled item for committee meeting on June 26, 2018. Report from Chief Legislative Analyst (June 14, 2018)
  • 06/15/2018 Chief Legislative Analyst document(s) referred to Planning and Land Use Management Committee.  Report from Chief Legislative Analyst (June 14, 2018)
  • 06/14/2018 Document(s) submitted by Chief Legislative Analyst, as follows:  Report from Chief Legislative Analyst (June 14, 2018)

Chief Legislative Analyst report 18-06-0553, dated June 14, 2018, relative to distribution of the Transfer of Floor Area Rights Public Benefit Payment Trust Fund.

 

Site Plan Review Revisions Draft Code Amendment

CPC-2017-1240-CA

An ordinance adding or amending Sections 16.05 of the Los Angeles Municipal Code to remove references to the former Community Redevelopment Agency of the City of Los Angeles (CRA) , which was dissolved on February 1, 2012, and to facilitate the transfer to the City of Los Angeles of the unexpired land use related plans and functions of the former CRA pursuant to Health and Safety Code Section 34173(i ) and to make other cleanup amendments to the Municipal Code .

Community Redevelopment Agency of Los Angeles (CRA

CF 13-1482-S1   03/01/2019 File expired per Council policy, Council file No. 05-0553.

Categorical Exemption and related California Environmental Act (CEQA) findings, reports from the Mayor and the Los Angeles City Planning Commission, Resolution to transfer authority of redevelopment plans from the Community Redevelopment Agency of Los Angeles (CRA) to the City of Los Angeles, Department of City Planning, and proposed ordinance revising the Los Angeles Municipal Code to remove references to the CRA and other technical corrections.

 

CEQA No. ENV-2013-3170-CE

Fiscal Impact Statement:  No

Community Impact Statement:  None submitted

Enhanced Infrastructure Financing District (EIFD)

CF 14-1349 Adopted – TO THE MAYOR FORTHWITH, (12); Absent: Englander, Fuentes, Krekorian (3)

ARTS, PARKS, HEALTH, AGING AND RIVER COMMITTEE REPORT relative to the feasibility of creating an Enhanced Infrastructure Financing District (EIFD) along the Los Angeles River to support restoration and maintenance of the river and river-adjacent communities.

Recommendations for Council action, as initiated by Motion (O’Farrell – Blumenfield – Price), SUBJECT TO THE APPROVAL OF THE MAYOR:

DIRECT the Economic and Workforce Development Department (EWDD) in consultation with the Chief Legislative Analyst (CLA), City Administrative Officer (CAO), and any other entity as needed, to draft and implement an EIFD Establishment Policy directing the process for initiating a study and adopting an EIFD for a general area or project.

AUTHORIZE the Controller to:

Establish a new account 22MXXX entitled River Revitalization EIFD and appropriate $75,000 allocated for consultant and noticing services from a source to be identified by Council District 13 into this new account.

Upon receipt of funds within the newly established River Revitalization EIFD/Fund No. XXX, appropriate therefrom on an as-needed basis.

AUTHORIZE the EWDD to prepare Controller instructions and/or make any technical adjustments that may be required and are consistent with these actions, subject to approval of the CAO; and, AUTHORIZE the Controller to implement these instructions.

DIRECT the EWDD in consulation with the CLA, CAO, and any other entity as needed, to take steps necessary to prepare a Resolution of Intention for one or more River Revitalization EIFDs, including but not limited to determining the EIFD’s proposed boundaries, goals and projects to be funded.

Fiscal Impact Statement: The EWDD reports that the recommended actions request the identification of funds to pay for initiation of consultant studies and noticing provisions necessary to consider a Resolution of Intention for the Los Angeles River. There is no immediate impact on the City’s General Fund. Any future impacts to the City’s General Fund resulting from adoption of an EIFD will be studied and presented in the Fiscal Impact Report required to be adopted by the City Council as part of any Infrastructure Plan if and when an EIFD goes through the public hearing process for consideration.

Community Impact Statement: None submitted.

Enhanced Infrastructure Financing Districts (EIFD)

CF No. 14-1349

Council instructed the Economic Workforce and Development Department, in conjunction with the Bureau of Engineering, the City Administrative Officer and the Chief Legislative Analyst, to report in 45 days on the feasibility of creating an Enhanced Infrastructure Financing District (EIFD) along the Los Angeles River to support restoration and maintenance of the River and River adjacent communities.

Read Los Angeles Times, Monday, January 19. 2015, New revenue stream? by Catherine Saillant

Community Redevelopment Agency

CF. 13-1482-S1  At PLUM

On June 18, 2014, City Council referred the following to Planning and Land Use Management Committee that affects Council Districts 1, 2, 4, 8, 9,10, 13, 14, 15:

City Planning Commission report, dated May 23, 2014, relative to a proposed Resolution requesting the  Transfer of Land Use Authority of Redevelopment Plans from the Community Redevelopment Agency of Los Angeles to the City of Los Angeles.

Community Redevelopment

On May 8, 2014, City Planning Commission will consider:

A proposed resolution requesting the transfer of land use authority of redevelopment plans to the City of Los Angeles, a proposed ordinance adding or amending Sections 11.13, 12.03, 12.04, 12.21, 12.22, 12.24, 13.11, 16.05 and 16.11 of the Los Angeles Municipal Code to modify or remove references to the former Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA), and other technical corrections to clarify existing regulations in the LAMC that are impacted by the transfer.  City Planning Commission staff report (click to obtain)

 

 

ENTERPRISE ZONE LAMC REGULATIONS

The Departments of Building and Safety and City Planning will continue to apply zoning incentives to those areas that had been previously designated as Enterprise Zones. The Department implements several zoning incentives that furthered State Enterprise Zone goals. Such LAMC regulations include reduced parking requirements – Section 12.21-A,4(x), increased building or structure height – Section 12.21.4, and exemptions from conditional use permits for major projects – Section 12.24-U,14(c)2. In adopting these regulations, the City provided additional incentives in designated areas beyond those provided by the State.

Regardless of the status of Enterprise Zones, City zoning regulations pertaining to those areas, which were approved by City Council resolution, are still valid. This is further supported by a City Council motion to “continue and increase city-level incentives” in Enterprise Zones (Council File 13-0934).