Bel-Air residents are expected to show-up en masse this afternoon when the City Council's land-use committee votes on whether the city should establish a special district in their neighborhood that would limit the size of new or remodeled homes and limit the amount of related construction activity.

The Hillside Construction Regulation Area, if passed, would establish hauling operation standards, construction activity standards, grading limits and require additional discretionary review for homes with an area of 20,000 square feet or greater.

The proposed ordinance - which must still be feted by the City Attorney's Office and approved by the City Council and Mayor before it can become city law - was proposed in response to a significant uptick in large-scale development in Bel-Air in the last few years. For example, from 2011 to 2015, approximately 18 building permits were issued for new SFDs with 20,000 square feet or greater of residential floor area, according to the City Planning Department. During that same time, more than 800 hauling permits were issued for projects in Bel-Air that cumulatively hauled more than 800,000 cubic yards of dirt.

The Bel-Air Alliance formed in May 2014 to protest the number, size and scope of projects in the community. They have been calling on City Hall - and Councilman Paul Koretz, specifically, who's council district includes Bel-Air - to enact rules that would limit the size and impact of projects. The HCRA is the first major legislative response.

The City Council's PLUM committee meeting today starts at 3:30 p.m. Here is the agenda; here is the draft HCRA.

The City Council's land-use committee is going to consider a proposal from City Planning on Wednesday that would create more than a dozen new "variations" of the city's traditional R1 zone, and identify areas around the city where these new zones could be the new rule of law for homeowners in as little as 2 months.

The council's Planning & Land Use Management (PLUM) committee is expected to review and then pass along to the City Attorney's Office the draft R1 Variations ordinance that was approved by the City Planning Commission last month. PLUM members have a big night ahead of them: Wednesday's agenda also includes the updated draft ordinance for the Baseline Hillside Ordinance and Baseline Mansionization Ordinance (story here) and an appeal of the City Planning Commission's approval of a Frank Caruso's mixed-use project in Beverly Grove.

The R1 Variations ordinance would create 16 new flavors of the R1 zone that would maintain the same standard R1 Zone lot size and setback requirements, but include different maximum Residential Floor Area ratios and also regulate height, form, and lot coverage to provide a range of new zones that vary from larger to smaller in scale.

The R1 zone currently covers 38% of the city, according to the City Planning Department. That makes this one of the largest, most far-reaching changes in City Planning history. Having said that, the proposed ordinance that PLUM will review tomorrow only includes specific zone changes for a few neighborhoods in Los Angeles, primarily in West LA and a few Hillside areas south of Mulholland Drive.

Eventually, all of the R1 neighborhoods in Los Angeles could be rezoned to one of the R1 variations, assuming the City Council approves the ordinance once the City Attorney's office has feted it. But for now, city officials are rushing to get the overall R1 Variations ordinance and spot zoning for the first 15 neighborhoods approved by March 25, when current Interim Control Ordinances (ICOs) expire. Those ICOs are currently preventing development that once was allowed by-right in those neighborhoods; city officials want the new R1 Variations and updated BHO/BMO to establish the new "by-right" levels.

The City Council PLUM meeting Wednesday starts at 3:30 p.m. The agenda is here.

Late Friday, the City Attorney’s office released its proposed draft ordinance for the changes to the Baseline Hillside Ordinance and Baseline Mansionization Ordinance, the highly controversial update to the rules that have governed hillside development and 'mansionization' in Los Angeles for more than a decade.
 
The City Council’s Planning & Land Use Management committee has already put the item on its agenda for this Wednesday’s meeting, which starts at 3:30 p.m. in City Hall (Room 340). Here's the draft ordinance: http://clkrep.lacity.org/onlinedocs/2014/14-0656_misc_01-13-2017.pdf
 
The cover letter from the City Attorney’s Office (here) includes discussion about passing the BHO/BMO update simultaneously with City Planning’s ordinance establishing variations of the R1 Zone because “the simultaneous effective dates of these two ordinances is important because this draft ordinance amending the BMO and BHO and the R1 zone variation ordinance together repeal and replace” the 15 Interim Control Ordinances (ICOs) that were enacted on March 25, 2015. Those ICOs expire this March 25.

But the draft ordinance for the R1 Zone Variations (here) hasn’t been sent to the City Attorney’s office yet. It’s on this Wednesday’s PLUM agenda too so PLUM can review and (presumably) vote to send it to the City Attorney’s office for the final draft ordinance. If the City Council wants to pass and enact both simultaneously, the BHO/BMO update is going to have to be set aside for the R1 Zone Variations ordinance to catch up.
 
The City Attorney’s office thinks it’s so important for both ordinances to be enacted simultaneously, they’ve included an “urgency clause” in the BHO/BMO update so that the changes take effect as soon as the City Clerk posts the approved ordinance (approved by City Council; approved and signed by Mayor Garcetti).
 
So assuming that the City Council agrees with the City Attorney’s recommendation, the BHO/BMO changes will be take effect close to March 25 (along with the R1 Zone Variations). If 3/4s of  the City Council disagrees and wants to enact the changes to the BHO/BMO sooner (and the mayor agrees), it could be done within a couple of weeks thanks to the urgency clause.
 
So what does the draft ordinance change? The City Attorney’s summarized the significant changes to the BHO/BMO as:

• Reduces the maximum residential floor area ratio allowed in the R1 zone
  
• Modifies the areas that count toward the calculation of residential floor area by limiting the FAR exemptions in all SFD zones
  
• Eliminates all floor area bonus options in the R1 zone
• Eliminates all floor area bonuses for Green Building in all SFD zones
• Establishes an encroachment plane and side-wall offset for building envelopes in the R1 zone
• Requires occupied rooftop decks in the R1 zone to be 3+ feet from the side yard setback
• Limits driveway widths in the R1 zone in non-Hillside areas
• Requires a public hearing for property owners who want a 10% increase in RFA beyond the allowed by-right in non-Hillside areas
• Removes most “exempt” grading areas
• Increases the amount of by-right grading allowed in all zones except R1 to compensate for formerly exempt grading
• Limits the hours of import and export allowed
• Limits the amount of export/import allowed

  
If you would like to contact the PLUM members and weigh in on the proposed changes and/or the timeline for approval, the council members on PLUM are:

José Huizar (Committee chair) – 213-473-7014 or councilmember.huizar@lacity.org
Gil Cedillo – 213-473-7001 or councilmember.cedillo@lacity.org
Mitchell Englander – 213-473-7012 or councilmember.englander@lacity.org
Marqueece Harris-Dawson – 213-473-7008 or councilmember.harris-dawson@lacity.org
Curren Price – 213-473-7009 or councilmember.price@lacity.org

As expected, the City Council as expected voted today to forward the draft BHO/BMO update to the City Attorney’s office for preparation of a final ordinance. But the motion was changed prior to the council's vote to roll-back many of the changes requested by Councilman Bonin’s office at the council’s Planning & Land Use Management Committee last week.
 
The City Council voted unanimously today (including Bonin) to instruct the CAO to incorporate the changes requested by the PLUM vote last week with the following changes, which all are intended to shrink the possible size of single-family dwelling remodeling or new home construction:
 
- The FAR for lots zoned R1 shall be 0.45, regardless of size, and in Hillside areas the R1 FAR shall be reduced based on increasing slope;
- The first 400 square feet of rear detached garage shall be exempted or the first 200 square feet of front  garage be exempted;
- The maximum grading shall be at 1,000 cubic yards for  all Hillside lots zoned R1;
- The guaranteed minimum RFA shall be at 800 square feet only in Hillside areas; The  R1 encroachment plane shall begin at 20 feet.

Here's the original PLUM motion: http://clkrep.lacity.org/onlinedocs/2014/14-0656_rpt_plum_11-29-16.pdf

Any recommendations from PLUM not in conflict with the changes above remain in the instructions to the City Attorney’s office, which is expected to produce the final ordinance for the council to vote on 5-8 weeks.

Th City Council is still expected to vote in early 2017 on the final ordinance with the actual effective date most likely between late February and mid-March.

LA Times: L.A. backs measures to roll back 'mansionization' in single-family neighborhoods

Previously on Land Use LA: Changes to BHO/BMO coming; ETA is still couple of months away 

Last week, members of the City Council’s Planning & Land Use (PLUM) Committee voted on the proposed changes to the BHO/BMO ordinances, unanimously agreeing to forward the draft changes approved by the City Planning Commission to the City Attorney’s Office and City Planning so that those departments will prepare a final ordinance. But there was confusion on what exactly the committee members wanted CAO/City Planning to change.
 
Three council office planning deputy’s spoke to the committee at the end of the hours-long hearing, making a variety of requested changes. The PLUM committee voted to forward the draft ordinance ‘with the changes requested by the council district offices’ without listing or discussing them and then the meeting ended.
 
There was a lot of confusion about what changes the PLUM committee members had asked City Planning and the City Attorney’s Office to make. However, City Planning has just issued an email this afternoon with the official update. According to City Planning, PLUM committee members told city bureaucrats to use the CPC-approved draft ordinance with the following changes:

• Reduce Hillside Area guaranteed minimum Residential Floor Area from 1,000 to 800 square feet.
• Reduce R1 Zone, Hillside Area by-right maximum grading from 2,000 to 1,000 cubic yards.
• Change starting height of R1 encroachment plane from 20 to 22 feet.
• Remove front articulation requirement in the R1 Zone.
• Restore 0.5 Floor Area Ratio for R1 lots smaller than 7,500 square feet.
• Restore full 400 square foot exemption for garages, regardless of location.
• ​Clarify that conditionally permitted uses are subject to the provisions of the BMO and BHO.​
• Add a provision exempting projects currently in the process of seeking zoning entitlements from following the ordinance.
• Other technical edits and clarifications.

The issue will be before the City Council on Wednesday (Dec. 7). However, this is just a technical vote to instruct the City Attorney’s Office and City Planning to do what PLUM instructed.

The final proposed ordinance is not ready to be voted on or enacted.
 
Moving forward, it is still highly likely that the changes to the BHO/BMO won’t take effect until sometime between late February and mid-March 2017. That’s because there are public notification requirements for all but emergency ordinances which automatically add at least a 6-week lag time between final City Council vote and effective date. In addition, it typically takes the City Attorney’s Office anywhere from a few weeks to several months to develop a final ordinance. Those two facts alone push the effective date to late February, at the earliest.
 
Here’s the link to the City Council agenda Wednesday:
 
http://ens.lacity.org/clk/councilagendas/clkcouncilagendas3108029_12072016.html
 
And here’s a link to the CPC approved version:
 
http://preservation.lacity.org/sites/default/files/BMO-BHO%20Letter%20of%20Determination.pdf

The city was wrong for requiring a Saudi prince to submit his proposed housing compound to a tract map review since he has no plans to subdivide the estate, according to an Appeals Court ruling obtained by LandUseLA.com that will free up other large-property developments from the extra level of scrutiny.

The prince's proposed estate drew international attention because his well-to-do neighbors, led by the wife of a billionaire investor, filed suit to stop the mega-mansion. They argued that allowing the various structures on 3 contingent parcels on Tower Lane was akin to building a Wal-Mart in Coldwater Canyon.

The neighborhood is a who's who of Hollywood and Los Angeles elite and the battle drew international headlines, including a notable feature in Vanity Fair:

The Appeals Court ruling, which was issued Friday, will make headlines again because of the names involved. But few people know that the lawsuit has actually impacted scores of other property owners, including many other Hollywood celebrities, well-to-do Angelenos and other developers of large lots in LA..

That's because since early 2012, the city's Planning and Building & Safety departments have required all developments on lots greater than 60,000 square feet to file an extra entitlement case to prove that their project wouldn't result in a de facto subdivision.

That requirement - known as a Waiver of Tentative Map or WTM - has added a couple months and several thousand dollars to scores of projects in the 2+ years since the city started the WTM process..

Now, with the Appeals Court ruling, those projects will not need the WTM review.

The city was wrong for requiring a Saudi prince to submit his proposed housing compound for a tract map review since he has no plans to subdivide the estate, according to an Appeals Court ruling that will free up other large-property developments from the extra level of scrutiny.

The prince's proposed estate drew international attention because his well-to-do neighbors, led by the wife of a billionaire investor, filed suit to stop the mega-mansion. They argued that allowing the various structures on 3 contingent parcels on Tower Lane was akin to building a Wal-Mart in Benedict Canyon.

The neighborhood is a who's who of Hollywood and Los Angeles elite and the battle drew international headlines, including a notable feature in Vanity Fair.

"The neighbors have hired top L.A. lawyers to challenge every detail and step of the process," wrote Michael Shnayerson in the October 2011 Vanity Fair piece. "The prince has hired top L.A. lawyers of his own. There hasn’t been a real-estate standoff like this in the canyon since the early 1990s."

The unanimous 3-judge Appeals Court ruling, which was issued Friday, will make headlines again because of the names involved. In addition to well-known community activist Martha Karch (wife of investor Bruce Karch), other residents near the subject site include TV host Jay Leno, Dreamworks SKG founder David Geffen, former Disney president Mike Ovitz, and David Beckham, the international soccer star.

But few people know that the lawsuit has actually impacted scores of other property owners, including many other Hollywood celebrities, well-to-do Angelenos and other developers of large lots in LA. That's because since early 2012, the city's Planning and Building & Safety departments have required all developments on lots greater than 60,000 square feet to file an extra entitlement case to prove that their project wouldn't result in a de facto subdivision.

That requirement - known as a Waiver of Tentative Map or WTM - has added a couple months and several thousand dollars to scores of projects in the 2+ years since the city started the WTM process. In fact, a LandUseLA.com review of online Planning Department records has found 82 WTM cases since January 2012. The projects that got caught in this extra level of bureaucracy included proposed additions to single-family homes, a new production building at 20th Century Fox Studios on Pico Boulevard, and a new training facility at the Los Angeles Police Department Academy.

Now, with the Appeals Court ruling, those projects will not need the WTM review and many will be by-right developments. Although there has not been an official bulletin released yet by either Planning or LADBS, sources in both departments told LandUseLA.com that Building & Safety will remove the WTM requirement from projects currently submitted at plan-check meetings and will stop adding the WTM requirement to future projects.

Appeals Court ruling: http://www.courts.ca.gov/opinions/documents/B244092.PDF

Vanity Fair: There Goes the Neighborhood:
http://www.vanityfair.com/society/features/2011/10/benedict-canyon-201110

New Training Facility at LA Police Academy: http://planning.lacity.org/cts_internet/index.cfm?urlCaseId=194300&caseNumber=AA-2013-3726-WTM&fuseaction=case.summary

New production building at 20th Century Fox Studios: http://planning.lacity.org/cts_internet/index.cfm?urlCaseId=186692&caseNumber=AA-2012-889-WTM&fuseaction=case.summary

City officials hope to have most construction projects in Hollywood back on track in about a month although the largest and most high profile projects will probably have to wait longer or modify their proposal,  according to officials who spoke with LandUseLA.com

As previously reported by LandUseLA.com and Curbed LA, projects in the Hollywood Community Plan area were temporarily frozen earlier this month when a Los Angeles Superior Court judge issued a ruling that said the update of that community plan was "fundamentally flawed" and no more permits could be issued that relied upon the community plan for its justification. After several days in which all Hollywood-area projects were stopped, the Planning Department issued a new policy that provided a pathway for most construction projects to move forward.

Still, at least 30 projects remained in limbo because their entitlements relied upon the community plan, according to a review of online records by LandUseLA.com.

Last week, the City Council instructed the Planning Department to return within a month with a timeline and expected cost for fixing the Hollywood Community Plan Update. The council also expects the department to return with an ordinance that will revive the old Hollywood Community Plan while the update is being repaired.

If the City Council revives the old community plan, many of the 30-plus entitlement cases currently in limbo could restart. However, any projects that rely upon the updated community plan would have to either redesign the project  to meet the old community plan, recast the legal justifications based upon the old community plan, or wait for the update to be repaired and enacted and then determine whether the project still meshes with the community plan.

ALSO: LandUseLA.com on the radio
LandUseLA.com publisher Chris Parker was on WhichWayLA? yesterday, discussing the Hollywood injunction. You can listen to the interview here: WhichWayLA?

Scores and scores of projects in the Hollywood Community Plan area will require an extra level of review and more than two dozen Hollywood projects are on hold indefinitely thanks to a policy enacted this morning by the Los Angeles Planning Department.

The department's new policy - dubbed the Hollywood Community Plan Update Injunction Clearance - is in response to a Feb. 11 ruling issued by the Los Angeles County Superior Court. The court determined that the department's Hollywood Community Plan Update was "fundamentally flawed" when it was approved in June 2012. Because the Hollywood growth plan is void, the city is prohibited from granting any "authority, permits or entitlements which derive from the HCPU or its EIR (Environmental Impact Report)," the court said.

A temporary - and unannounced - hold was placed last week on all projects in the Hollywood area by the Planning and Building & Safety departments until the Planning Department could issue a response to the court ruling. The response was issued this morning as Zoning Information File No. 2433, a 4-page memo with instructions on what projects could still move forward and which type of projects would be put on hold indefinitely.

The good news for property owners in Hollywood is that many projects will be able to move forward, albeit with an extra level of review.

But according to ZI-2433, any project that has an entitlement request which rely on the HCPU or its EIR are now on hold until the City Council passes legislation that addresses the court's concerns. The council voted Tuesday to instruct the Planning Department to return within 30 days with a timeline and cost.

In the meantime, dozens of projects that were filed with the Planning Department are on hold. That's because those projects include entitlement requests such as Zone Changes, Zone Variances or other deviations from the Zone Code that can no longer be decided by the department because the community plan for the Hollywood area is void.

A LandUseLA.com review of the department's online records has found 28 cases that are now on hold which were filed with the Planning Department's Office of Zoning Administration between Aug. 11, 2013 and Feb. 8, 2014. The projects include everything from minor entitlement requests such as yard deviations to major projects such as hotels and mixed-use projects. It is safe to assume there are additional projects filed prior to August 2013 that didn't receive entitlement relief by Tuesday and are now on hold. 

One of the more interesting entitlement cases that is now ensnared in this injunction hold is a request from the Hollywood Forever Cemetery to add 7 new mausoleums and/or wall crypt structures. In October, the cemetery submitted a request for a Zone Variance and Zoning Administrator's Adjustment, among other entitlements, to be able to build the new mausoleums.

As mentioned previously, the majority of projects in Hollywood will be able to move forward once they receive approval from city planners assigned to the HCPU Injunction Clearance process. According to ZI-2433, building permit requests in the Hollywood area will be reviewed and approved if they: don't require a Planning entitlement (i.e. - "by right"); only need ministerial clearances tied to previously issued building permits; or require discretionary approvals under one of the special districts in the Hollywood area as long as those approvals don't require an amendment and/or exception.

All of this stems from appeals filed by Hollywood-area homeowners groups against the city's June 2012 approval of the Hollywood Community Plan Update. The groups objected to the plan, saying it was based upon false growth assumptions and didn't adequately address infrastructure issues for the population growth that the community plan allowed.

A tentative ruling was issued in December but it wasn't until last week that the written Superior Court determination was issued, requiring the city to stop issuing permits based upon the updated Hollywood plan.

How long will this injunction last? It's unknown. But the City Council instructed the Planning Department to return in a month with a plan and cost for fixing the Hollywood Community Plan, not to return with the actual fix itself. Once the department gets council approval on the timeline and cost, it would presumably take several months of department work and then public hearings until the City Council can vote on the updated Hollywood Community Plan Update.

In the meantime, dozens of projects currently in the pipeline plus countless more that will be filed this year, will be on hold.

ZI No. 2433: Hollywood Community Plan Update Injunction Clearance Instructions
http://zimas.lacity.org/documents/zoneinfo/ZI2433.pdf

Curbed LA: NIMBYs Put Indefinite Stop to All Building Permits in Hollywood
http://la.curbed.com/archives/2014/02/nimbys_put_indefinite_stop_to_all_building_permits_in_hollywood.php

City Council motion: Instructions to Planning Department re Hollywood Community Plan Update
http://clkrep.lacity.org/onlinedocs/2012/12-0303-S3_CA_02-18-14.pdf

Hollywood Forever Cemetery Request for 7 New Mausoleums:
http://planning.lacity.org/cts_internet/index.cfm?urlCaseId=193758&caseNumber=CPC-2013-3262-PUB-ZV-ZAA-SPR&fuseaction=case.summary

LA Times: Judge Deals Major Blow to Hollywood Growth Plan
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-judge-hollywood-growth-plan-20131211,0,7703380.story#axzz2tnkOGC7X

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