The riverside community of Frogtown (aka Elysian Valley) has seen an incredible surge in interest from developers in the wake of all the new interest in the LA River and the imminent $1-billion money injection that will help make it a more attractive place to live next to. But yesterday, the LA Planning Commission approved set of zoning changes aimed at slowing the development blitz down just a little bit. The tweaks cap all new buildings at two stories, plus limit their size to 60 percent of their total lot size, says KPCC.
Displacement of long-time residents has been a big topic of discussion for a year or two now. Frogtown's long been a working class Latino neighborhood, and its location near the 5 and 2 freeways and along the concretey river wasn't always so desirable. Since the river's stock has risen, though, local homeowners have started getting sales agreements in the mail on the regular. One owner of a live/work complex told the commission she gets "near-weekly offers" from people who are looking to cash in on the 'hood's hotness: "They wanted to know what my lease situation was, they wanted to throw everybody out and triple the rents." A rep for Councilmember Mitch O'Farrell (whose district includes Frogtown) says that the neighborhood is experiencing a developer "feeding frenzy."
The zoning changes would apply to a 1.5-mile section of Frogtown that's almost entirely along the riverfront. Now that the Planning Commission approved the zoning changes, they go next to the City Council's Planning and Land Use Management Committee, then on to the full City Council, "which has the final say."
· LA planning commissioners vote to tamp down Frogtown development [SCPR]
· Frogtown Mulling Strict New Rules For Building on the LA River [Curbed LA]