By unanimous vote, the Los Angeles City Council has approved updated Community Plans for both Hollywood and Downtown Los Angeles. The Community Plans update zoning and provide a measure of certainty to a process long subject to the discretion of individual councilmembers. This will permit the construction of 35,000 new units of housing in Hollywood and 100,000 new units in Downtown L.A., a big step forward in addressing the city’s tremendous housing shortage.
Council President Paul Krekorian recognized the work of the City Planning Department, community stakeholders and the Council’s Planning and Land Use Management Committee under the leadership of Chair Marqueece Harris Dawson for completing “undoubtedly the two most difficult plans in the entire city.” Community plans can be among the most contentious issues the Council considers, and they have often been delayed by lawsuits and obstructionist tactics. The Community Plan for Downtown had not been updated in 20 years, while the plan for Hollywood was last updated in 1988.
“This is going to be incredibly important to the city’s future, addressing our housing needs and our economic development,” said Krekorian. “We have a Council with the greatest diversity of viewpoints in recent memory, and we just voted unanimously on two matters that no Council has been able to finish in over 20 years. This was a product of robust debate, stakeholder input, advocacy, and consensus building. I want to applaud all the members of this Council for doing something monumentally important for the City of Los Angeles.”
In addition to the paramount priority of creating housing and addressing the affordability gap, the newly approved plans provide for the preservation of open hillside space above Hollywood, and protect critically important jobs in the Downtown garment industry, while promoting jobs in the tourism and hospitality sector.