The Planning Department released an updated draft of the Little Tokyo Community Design Overlay District today that redraws the CDO's proposed boundary and will vet the changes at another public meeting in February.

The Little Tokyo CDO process started in 2006 with the goal of promoting pedestrian-friendly developments while also preserving the historical and cultural identity of Little Tokyo, one of the oldest ethnic enclaves in the city.

The proposed CDO includes extensive design and function guidelines, from entrance orientation to exterior materials and colors. Nearly every exterior change to a Little Tokyo building will be required to submit an application to the CDO staff for review.

The city already has 19 CDOs; the Little Tokyo would be the 20th and is the only draft CDO currently under development.

The proposed CDO has already gone through several rounds of public meetings and approvals, including an endorsement from the City Planning Commission in August. But since the CPC approval, the Planning Department has modified the boundaries of the CDO to reflect public input.

Comments received on the Little Tokyo CDO guidelines at a Planning Department public hearing last February were "almost exclusively in support" of the changes, according to the staff report.  It was at that hearing where many supporters of the CDO asked that the boundaries be expanded to include significant Japanese historic and cultural institutions such as the Nishi Hongwanji Buddhist Temple, Zenshuji Soto Mission, and St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church.

The modified map adds most of the block east of Alameda Street between Temple and 1st streets. It also proposes to remove most of the parcels on the south side of 3rd Street between Los Angeles and Alameda streets.

The proposed CDO still needs support from the City Council and Mayor's office before it can be enacted.

Limited Public Hearing notice: Feb. 4

Draft Little Tokyo Community Design Overlay District

City Planning Commission report

The Los Angeles Planning Department will continue to review and approve projects in the Hollywood area despite a recent Superior Court judge's tentative ruling to strike down the Hollywood Community Plan because the legal process could take a year or more, the department's chief said in a memo released during the holiday break.

Planning Department chief Michael J. LoGrande said his department "remains committed to the important principles of the Hollywood Community Plan," in his memo, dated Dec. 20, 2013, and posted late last week on the department's website.

Earlier this month,  Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Allan J. Goodman struck down the Hollywood Community Plan, saying that the city did not comply with state environmental laws when it approved the updated plan in June.

Goodman said the city's approval was based upon inflated population figures that were not substantiated by government data. Several neighborhood groups have opposed the revised community plan, and three groups filed suit to stop it. Opponents of the Hollywood Community Plan say that it wrongly encouraged higher levels of density than the area's infrastructure could handle and said the increased density was unnecessary.

LoGrande said in his memo that the department was still committed to the approved Hollywood Community Plan because it was "developed through an inclusive community-based process involving numerous meetings with Hollywood stakeholders over many years." He said the plan is beneficial because it directs growth around transit hubs, establishes lower height limits around historic districts and protects hillside areas from "over-development."

LoGrande also said that since Goodman's decision was tentative and the jurist's final decision could be appealed, it could be a year or more before Goodman's decision could impact the Planning Department or projects proposed for the Hollywood area.


Michael LoGrande Memo re Hollywood Community Plan


LA Times: Judge deals major blow to Hollywood growth plan