Following almost four hours of discussion and public comment, a powerful Los Angeles City Council committee has voted unanimously to update long-range plans for two of the city’s most iconic neighborhoods — Hollywood and downtown L.A.
While the Hollywood Community Plan and the Downtown Community Plan address neighborhood issues, they also highlight broader, citywide matters such as increasing affordable housing, supporting businesses, providing tenant protections, and creating open and green spaces.
Following Monday’s separate approvals of the two community plans by the Planning and Land Use Management Committee, the two plans will next be considered by the full City Council.
“With 80% of the plan’s housing capacity within half a mile of major transit stops, the DTLA Community Plan Update leverages L.A.’s transit-rich center to connect more Angelenos and visitors to housing, employment, health care, education and cultural events,” Planning Director Vince Bertoni said in a statement.
“The Hollywood Community Plan Update also encourages housing growth along transportation corridors, reinforces Hollywood’s media and entertainment jobs center, provides more mobility options and puts forward more sustainable solutions,” he added.
Priya Mehendale, a senior city planner, said the Hollywood plan was “35 years in the making.” Bertoni cited budgetary issues and litigation that voided a 2012 plan adopted by the City Council to explain why it took so long.
“This is very unusual. It’s by far the oldest community plan by many years,” he said.
The Hollywood Community Plan would accommodate about 58,000 more residents, 35,000 housing units and 29,000 jobs in the next 20 years. It would also direct the growth near transit, bolster the neighborhood’s creative employment identity, provide more transportation choices and ensure hillside area development is protective of resources.
Mehendale said the proposed Hollywood plan would also…
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