The City Planning Commission yesterday approved the LA River Improvement Overlay, the plan that creates a new set of urban design guidelines for all property within 2,500 feet of the river--new projects would be required to meet design standards with regard to "setbacks, fencing and native landscaping," not to mention that familiar sticky issue, parking, reports the LA Daily News. The ordinance now goes to a joint committee of the City Council's Planning and Land Use Management Committee and the Ad Hoc River Committee. As Curbed reported back in December, the city hopes that the LA RIO will inspire the Army Corps of Engineers to start funding programs to remove the cement that lines the river bed.
Nearby home and businessowners are concerned about getting caught up in the proposed plan (the guidelines apply to new construction or major remodels). The LADN quotes a member of the Homeowners of Encino: "This is not a river in the sense that it is fed by some pristine mountain stream...It is a runoff and a flood control channel. We object to the heavy-handed requirements the city is putting on residents who live within 2,500 feet of the river."
Despite the opposition to the plan, the CPC commissioners present at the hearing voted unanimously to approve the LA RIO--an effusive CPC President Bill Roschen said "I think as people review this it will get more and more support. To create a park of this size is unbelievable." Image via Ron Reiring
· L.A. River development plan approved [Daily News]
· City Considering Plan to Start Un-Paving and Spiffing the LA River [Curbed LA]
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