Greetings Everyone.

I just wanted to let you all know that the Hillside Area Definition Amendment & Map has made its way through the process and is now ready for a final Council Action.

The Department of City Planning worked with the City Attorney’s Office on addressing the form and legality of the Hillside Area Ordinance and transmitted the revised Ordinance to their office on November 20, 2009. The revised language essentially says the same thing as before and only clarifies where the new Hillside Area Map can be found. The City Attorney’s Office transmitted their report to the City Clerk on December 22, 2009 along with a signed ordinance.

According to the City ClerkConnect file for this case (File No. 09-1390), the item has been referred to the Planning & Land Use Management Committee of the City Council.

To access the City Clerk’s records for this case please click go to the following link: http://cityclerk.lacity.org/lacityclerkconnect/index.cfm?fa=ccfi.viewrecord&cfnumber=09-1390

To download a copy of the City Attorney Report, which includes the revised Ordinance and a copy our Department’s transmittal, please go to the following link: http://clkrep.lacity.org/onlinedocs/2009/09-1390_rpt_atty_12-22-09.pdf

To download a copy of the Department of City Planning Hillside Area Map that includes the two amendments requested by the City Council on September 23, 2009 please go to the following link: http://clkrep.lacity.org/onlinedocs/2009/09-1390_misc_12-7-09.pdf

UPDATE RE: BASELINE HILLSIDE ORDINANCE

We completed a first draft of the Baseline Hillside Ordinance in early December and have met with Department of Building & Safety staff to discuss some of the details. We are currently working on some of the minor revisions they have asked for. If our first meeting with them is any indication of how we are doing, we seem to be on the right track. We will be meeting with them at least one more time before meeting with a few focus groups made up of architects and engineers to discuss some of the technical details of our proposals.

Once we’ve smoothed out most of the major issues and made sure that the proposal is feasible we will release the Draft Baseline Hillside Ordinance proposals for public review, and follow it up with Public Workshops before conducting any official Public Hearings. Once released, we want to give you all a chance to meet with your respective groups and associations to discuss the proposals, and will probably allow for a 2 or 3 (maybe even 4) week review window prior to the workshop dates.

I hope this email finds you well. As always, if you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact me.

Sincerely,

Erick Lopez, City Planner
Department of City Planning
Community Planning Bureau – West Coastal Division
200 N. Spring St., Room 621
Los Angeles, CA 90012
(213) 978-1243
(213) 978-1226 – fax
erick.lopez@lacity.org