Last night, the Los Angeles chapter of the American Planning Association doled out awards at SCI-Arc, and while we missed the cocktail hour (planners must keep bankers' hours to start drinking that early), we did arrive just in time for the awards presentation. Architect and SCI-Arc director Eric Owen Moss delivered his welcome speech, complaining bitterly about neighborhood councils and their pastoralist nostalgia for small-town LA. How does he convince these "otherwise progressive" NIMBYs to accept new development? According to Moss, he uses a cunning technique of reverse psychology. Call them "arch-conservatives" and they will bend to his will because who can abide by that kind of spurious name-calling? Then it was on to the awards presentation. So who were the big winners?
The third round of "subway to the sea" community meetings take place this week and next week. And according to Streetsblog LA, the line's variations have been narrowed down to four routes: one following Wilshire almost entirely, one following Wilshire but hitting the Grove, Beverly Center, and Cedars Sinai Hospital, and two that follow Wilshire but have spurs going through West Hollywood. The WeHo spurs look to touch down at Santa Monica Boulevard and Fairfax and Santa Monica and San Vicente Boulevards. Transit enthusiasts are nicknaming the WeHo spur the "Pink Line." Should the gays be offended? [Streetsblog LA]
Some news out of Las Vegas! We attended the American Planning Association National Conference in Las Vegas from Saturday to Wednesday to learn about urban planning and new ways to make up rules to tell people how to live. It's what we do. Also in attendance was a large contingent from Southern California - including LA's Planning Director Gail Goldberg who spoke on several panels. Minor interesting tidbits we gleaned from conference goers:
- In addition to the two lawsuits against the SB1818 Density bonus law we've covered here and here, there is a third lawsuit out there somewhere which was mentioned several times, but details were scarce. Speaking on a panel about Inclusionary Housing with the Planning Directors of New York City and Washington, D.C., Gail Goldberg detailed the City efforts to get the density bonus law implemented and the ensuing troubles created by "SB1818," which she noted most people in the City can't say without total disdain in their voice.
With the Planning Department's elite Urban Design Studio producing some serious results refining Downtown's urban growth standards, the draft plan Design for a Livable Downtown is available for comments and feedback before it's finalized. Bases covered: Sustainability, streetscapes, architectural details, parking, open space, and building materials ("Generally, stucco is not permitted.")
Despite being Downtown's last best hope for affordable public space, the plan lacks any mention of how to better utilize existing alleyways, along the lines of Pasadena's Old Town shopping district. Recommendations instead call for inclusion of paseos (public walkways) to cut through new projects over 300 feet in length. The final document will be submitted to the Planning Commission for adoption to the Central City Community Plan this summer.
· Design for a Livable Downtown [Urban Design Studio]
Redondo Beach is squabbling over the future of the city, and potential rezoning and redevelopment of its harbor area. The Easy Reader reports that a four-hour meeting on Tuesday, brought out those for and against the proposed redevelopment which could bring in over 500k sq. ft. of new commercial development and public parks and bike paths. Everyone agrees that they don't want any new residential development, but disagreements still remain over the scale of development. And this is where we get the money quote (quite literally) from Redondo NIMBY Jess Money. This one is right up there with the Hong Kong Density quote from a Santa Monica NIMBY.
Slow growth activist Jess Money said the recommendations represented the reappearance of the Heart of the City and threatened another referendum.
“What I think we have here is a simple situation,” Money said. “The city council equates more with better and thinks that what we’ve got now doesn’t work. We don’t know how to manage it well, so just put more in, and by some magic wave of a magic wand we get prosperity – we become a junior Manhattan Beach. It just doesn’t work that way….I remind you of the R word: you know we have done referendums and initiatives on some other things and you guys ought to know by now we are capable. It’s like my dad said, ‘If you are going to play hardball, don’t throw anything hittable to a home run hitter.’”
It was only a matter of time, but finally all our crazy judicial dreams have come true. A lawsuit has finally popped up, as a citizen opponent of the State's SB 1818 Density Bonus law has sued the City. The Density Bonus law would incentivize developers to include affordable housing in their projects in exchange for being allowed to build with added height, more dwelling units, fewer parking spaces or a host of other options. The Daily News reports that Valley Village homeowner Sandy Hubbard filed the lawsuit in order to stop the city's implementation of the ordinance, following the advice of Planning Commission President Jane Usher. We got a hold of the lawsuit and are reading it now. Here's some of the verbage from the document:
"...in passing the 'SB 1818 Implementing Ordinance' defendant and respondent Los Angeles City Council abrogated its responsibilities to the people of Los Angeles, completely and thoroughly abused its discretion, and utterly failed to proceed in the manner required by law..."
The LA Business Journal shines a spotlight on Westwood Village and the ongoing construction that may one day transform the area back into someplace special. However, we have our doubts as much of the hopes are being pinned on the Casden Properties' Palazzo project. That can't be good.
Westwood boosters and critics alike say that a lack of accessible public parking deters shoppers and the addition of hundreds of residents living at the Palazzo project could infuse the moribund retail community with new life.
Other projects, including the one-story retail building proposed for the former site of the Mann National and a secret boutique hotel project proposed for 10844-10852 Lindbrook, are making residents hopeful that the area can be transformed back into a retail mecca.
· Westwood Heads in New Direction [LABJ]
That slightly more lush-looking stretch of the Los Angeles River -- the soil-bottomed area from Griffith Park to the Glendale/Hyperion bridge -- is eligible for a makeover under the Los Angeles River Revitalization Master Plan. The Glendale Narrows, as it's called, already sports a smooth 2-lane bike path, a couple of heavily tagged pedestrian bridges connecting Griffith Park to Atwater Village, and a greenspace for homeless camping and/or tai chi practice. What will the unspecified, un-budgeted future bring? Better walkways along the east bank, improved access under the bridge, and integration with the Red Car "pocket" park and mural. And hopefully someone to keep an eye on the garbage.
A visual update on WeHo's Hancock Lofts, which we reported on earlier this month as going on sale this year and starting in the low $900,000s. The four-story mixed use will have 31 luxury "flats," seven affordable apartments on the ground floor facing Hancock Ave., and three units of retail facing Santa Monica Blvd. Tenants will include a new outpost of Culver City's Tender Greens restaurant, a Washington Mutual bank, and one yet-to-be-signed shop/cafe. Here's hoping for a tea or coffeehouse with outdoor seating that provides excellent views of the soon-to-rise Red Building.
The LA Weekly further exposes the Quimby-funds fiasco, where it was discovered LA was sitting on $130 million that was earmarked for green space. Also stupid is that the Quimby fees—monies the city charges developers per unit of construction then uses (or is supposed to use) for parks—can only be utilized near the development, i.e. 'mo development='mo $$ for nearby parks. But where parks are desperately needed, like South L.A., there's no development. 'Nother fun fact: 4% of Los Angeles is devoted to green space, compared to 17% in uber-dense New York. More quimby money trail info here. [LA Weekly]
CityWatch has a non-dramatic telling of the planning history of Los Angeles that has led us to today's battles over density, affordable housing and Zev Yaroslavsky's mustache -- long may it live. Planner and architect Bill Christopher recounts the disconnect that occurred in the 1970's, when Community Plans were instituted that failed to update the existing zoning. "So we had the dis-jointed situation where the actual legal zoning was set up for a city of 10 million, while the advisory “plans” would limit the City eventually to 4.2 million people. Since, at the time in the 70's, the City had fewer than 3 million residents, 4.2 million inhabitants still seemed to many like a recipe for Bladerunner, which, in 1982, provided the imagery for the Los Angeles of the future." [CityWatch]
In the latest installment of people getting pissed off about the removal of trees, neighbors of the Expo Line in Culver City, currently under construction, have expressed dismay over the removal of 35-trees in their neighborhood.
A notification letter sent out by the Expo Authority prior to the removal of the trees read, “Where feasible, trees will be protected, stored and replanted during the project landscaping phase.”
But when some neighbors returned home on Feb. 28, they found more than the described amount to be missing from their adjacent properties.
“It didn’t say what they were going to do what they did,” said Ron Gilbert, who lives on Sherbourne Drive. “They just clear cut everything.”
Some neighbors are now claiming that they never even received a tree removal notice. Expo authorities say that there was a possibility that wind blew the notices away.
· Plan to smooth rail construction outlined [LA Wave]
What was once the humble north end of San Fernando Road is set to become Newhall's Main Street, part of an "historic old town," reports The Signal, with a "visitor-friendly boulevard" and a "a landscaping makeover intended to reflect Newhall's natural environment and its early Hollywood-inspired history." Indeed, this corner of Santa Clarita was home to silent star William S. Hart and the location of Frank Sinatra's Suddenly (1954), among others. The city even plans street lamps that emulate hitching posts. Yee haw! Construction on 12 blocks, part of a 15-year plan for Newhall, begins in July.
· Newhall street faces spruce-up [The Signal]
· Downtown Newhall Specific Plan [Oldtown Newhall]
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Keep hunting that white whale, Captain Ahab! In Sunday's Opinion section of the LA Times, 
Redondo Beach is squabbling over the future of the city, and potential rezoning and redevelopment of its harbor area. The Easy Reader reports that a four-hour meeting on Tuesday, brought out those for and against the proposed redevelopment which could bring in over 500k sq. ft. of new commercial development and public parks and bike paths. Everyone agrees that they don't want any new residential development, but disagreements still remain over the scale of development. And this is where we get the money quote (quite literally) from Redondo NIMBY Jess Money. This one is right up there with the 
It was only a matter of time, but finally all our crazy judicial dreams have come true. A lawsuit has finally popped up, as a citizen opponent of the State's SB 1818 Density Bonus law has sued the City. The Density Bonus law would incentivize developers to include affordable housing in their projects in exchange for being allowed to build with added height, more dwelling units, fewer parking spaces or a host of other options. The Daily News reports that Valley Village homeowner Sandy Hubbard filed the lawsuit in order to stop the city's implementation of the ordinance, following 
In the latest installment of people getting pissed off about the removal of trees, neighbors of the 
