City News, LADBS, Planning
Los Angeles Budget Woes = Less Staff and More Delays
The news from Los Angeles City Hall has been pretty bleak the last few weeks. Late last month, the City Administrative Office reported that the city has overspent by $288 million so far this year, with about half the overruns incurred by the police and fire departments. At the same time, the city has been […]
City News, LADBS, PCCLA
AWA+D Invites PCC to Discuss LA Coastal Zones & Processes
Dual jurisdiction or single? Categorical Exclusion or Coastal Exemption? City CDP or CCC CDP? Venice Sign-off or Specific Plan Permit Compliance? The city of LA’s Coastal Zone is a jumble of options. But it’s critically important to know the difference since some Coastal approvals can be taken care of during permitting; others can take 12-, […]
City News, LADBS
Threshold Easing for Projects Which Require LID Approval
The threshold for which residential projects require Low Impact Development (LID) review and approval will get considerably easier two weeks from today. The biggest change in LID processing is that residential projects which previously triggered LID review for 500 sq. ft. or more of impervious area now only need LID plans if the project proposes […]
City News, LADBS
Council votes today on updated Al Fresco Ordinance
The City Council’s Planning & Land Use Management Committee (PLUM) voted unanimously Tuesday afternoon to recommend approval of the updated Al Fresco Ordinance. A vote has already been scheduled for today (Dec. 6) by the full City Council. Assuming the council votes in favor of the revised ordinance (and there’s been little opposition to the […]
City News, LADBS, Planning
Status of Al Fresco Ordinance (aka Outdoor eating)
One of the few positive things to come out of the recent pandemic was the rediscovery of the joy of outdoor eating. When restauranteurs couldn’t serve more than a few customers inside their eateries because of distancing requirements, they moved the tables outside and Angelenos embraced the chance to eat outdoors, or Al Fresco. Now that […]
City News, LADBS
Mayor’s Tolling Order To End Soon
The end is near for the Mayor’s Tolling Order. As a reminder, back on March 21, 2020, then-Mayor Garcetti declared a citywide State of Emergency at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. His order included a tolling of City Planning and LADBS deadlines, stating that any project which would normally have an entitlement, plan-check and/or […]
City News, LADBS, Planning
HCR Overlays Being Added
Hillside Construction Regulations likely coming to additional residential neighborhoods in Bel Air–Beverly Crest & NELA While most of the Los Angeles residential development industry has been watching the proposed Wildlife Ordinance make its way through the byzantine review process, two proposed ordinances have quietly reached the precipice of enactment which could impact thousands of residential properties in […]
City News, LADBS
All-Electric Buildings Coming to LA
Citing the global climate crisis, the City of Los Angeles approved an ordinance last month that would require that all newly constructed buildings be “all-electric buildings,” meaning that no gas piping can be provided for cooking (including outdoor barbeques), space heating (including fireplaces), water heating (including pools and spas), and/or clothes drying. Although the law’s […]
City News, LADBS, Planning
CPC OKs Wildlife Ordinance; Effective Date Still Months Out
The City Planning Commission voted unanimously last month to approve the draft Wildlife Ordinance, the controversial ordinance which has pitted neighbor vs. neighbor in the city’s Hillside areas where the Wildlife zoning overlay would be enacted if voted into law. As currently written, the ordinance will impose greater limits on property owners when it comes […]
City News, LADBS, Planning
Planning Releases Implementation Memo re AB2097 parking relief
One of the most significant statewide laws that took effect on Jan. 1 is AB2097, which prohibits cities from imposing automobile parking restrictions on any residential, commercial or other development project within 0.5 miles of a “major transit stop” (as defined by state law). Typically, it takes Los Angeles several weeks into the new year […]
