LA INTERSECTIONS-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
(Chris Parker is a land use consultant and the publisher of LandUseLA.com. Parker is an occasional contributor to CityWatch.)
-cw
CityWatch
Vol 11 Issue 105
Pub: Dec 31, 2013