To All Neighborhood Council Land Use Committees:

Sending you some time sensitive information that was presented at last Saturday’s, December 9, 2017 PlanCheckNC meeting.   This is an opportunity for you to place these items on your upcoming meeting agendas and participate with comments and positions by your Neighborhood Councils to the respective City Council staff, commissions, committees and the full City Council.

Thank you to Tom Rothmann, Rubina Ghazarian, David Somers and Lisette Covarrubias from the Department of City Planning.  We also saw Jose Galdamez from EmpowerLA.

The Transportation Demand Management Ordinance presentation included a power point handout with Rubina Ghazarian, City Planner – Adopted in 1993 the new update will include context-based, project-specific strategies to increase equitable and multimodal access to goods and services. Over time, additional strategies can be included as transportation technologies and innovations emerge. The ordinance update will help implement Mayor Garcetti’s sustainability goals to fight climate change and create a more resilient City. The City of Los Angeles is also proposing a series of minor ordinance revisions to align procedural sections of the Code and Specific Plan terminology with the Mobility Plan 2035.

LADOT and the Department of City Planning are working on revising the City’s Transportation Demand Management (TDM) Ordinance to incorporate emerging transportation technologies, capture shifting travel preferences, and consider more diverse applications of TDM to adapt the City’s transportation system to account for future mobility needs.  More info:
http://ladot.lacity.org/what-we-do/planning-development-review/transportation-planning-policy

and copy of Power Point presentation from Saturday’s meeting:  http://plancheckncla.com/planchecknc-tdm-powerpoint12-9-17/

PlanCheckNC has invited David and Rubina back with more updates in January or February.  Attendees presented many comments and questions. The ordinance draft is expected to circulate in January / February.

Announcements
Animal Adoption Centers will be at the CPC on January 11, 2018
Bicycle Parking will be at City Council in January
Cannabis Land Use Regulation Ordinance has passed the City Council.  Cannabis ordinances passed 12-0 (3 absent due to fires Rodriguez, Koretz & Bonin).  Much acknowledgment of more work/revisions/clarifications/new provisions that are required and supposedly will be taken up in the new year (community benefits, additional “equity” provisions, etc.). Buffer is 700 ft. and day care centers are included as sensitive uses. There are new maps in the Council File (S4) https://cityclerk.lacity.org/lacityclerkconnect/index.cfm?fa=ccfi.viewrecord&cfnumber=14-0366-S4 that show allowed locations for each activity in each district. Department of Cannabis Regulation (DCR) will handle the permits and certificates for the seven different types of licenses related to Cannabis operations. Other matters that may be taken up in 2018: setting cap on retail businesses per community plan area; increasing years after felony conviction before person can be eligible for license (now 10); additional tweaks to social equity component basically to allow more “disadvantaged” persons to get into the industry easier.
Cannabis Signage will be at the CPC on December 14 – CPC-2017-4546-CA
Donation & Collection Bins Ordinance will be at CPC on December 21
Elderberry & Toyon Shrubs Protection Ordinance in February
Farmers Markets – to allow in C zones – continued from PLUM
Processes & Procedures Ordinance at the CPC February 8, 2018 — City now has 16 new single family zones
Signage Ordinance – Latest to allow relocation of billboards outside sign districts will be at PLUM on December 12 (also see below)
Ridgelines Ordinance – Profile of Ridgelines in process
Status on other pending ordinances:

ADUs and Small Lot Subdivisions are pending in PLUM, with the Chair (CD 14) controlling the scheduling. Small Lot appears set to go soon but no time set for ADUs yet.

AGF Ordinance was extended for two years to allow the City more time to finalize the update on this ordinance.

More regarding the Sign Ordinance at PLUM tomorrow (Tuesday):
SIGN ORDINANCE HEARING AT PLUM THIS TUESDAY 12/12, 2:30 pm AT PLUM with a new draft ordinance.  Check it out and send comments to PLUM (plum@lacity.org).  CF 11-1705 .  The draft as now written largely disregards concerns related to aesthetics, traffic safety, environmental quality, and the will of the people. Simply put, the new draft legislation will allow new digital billboards on almost any property with the word Commercial in its zoning. This is a huge departure from earlier drafts that confined new billboards to defined Sign Districts located only in intensive commercial zones.   Permitted digital signage could consist of on-site signs which promote the businesses where they are located, and/or off-site signs, commonly known as billboards, which promote things like movies, consumer products, personal injury attorneys, and gentlemen’s clubs. The loose language of this new draft will open up hundreds of business properties, intersections, and strip malls to new illuminated signage. Such signs are in addition to the Tier 1 Sign Districts that the new legislation also creates, in the most intense commercial zones.

You can pull  up the council file and all the recent staff reports and proposed ordinance with changes noted at:  https://cityclerk.lacity.org/lacityclerkconnect/index.cfm?fa=ccfi.viewrecord&cfnumber=11-1705
11-1705 (CFMS) – City Clerk  cityclerk.lacity.org
Prior Council Files 08-2020; 08-3386-S1; 12-1611; 11-0724 City Administrative Officer Reports: 0220-04654-0016; 0220-05260-0002 City Attorney Report: R13-0273

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To access the City’s Council File Management System go to: https://cityclerk.lacity.org/lacityclerkconnect/

To access ordinances and proposed ordinances go to: http://cityplanning.lacity.org/ then click on ordinances on the left side and then click on either Adopted Ordinances or Proposed Ordinances.

For more updates, please attend PlanCheckNC meetings and participate in the ListServ Discussion List.   Do you have a question ?  Want to share what’s going on in your Land Use / PLUM committee ?  Challenges ?  Do so by participating in the ListServ for PlanCheckNC members. Easy to use.  It is as simple as sending an e-mail.
PlanCheckNCLA Discussion List Info & How to Participate: The purpose is to share topics and network among Land Use and Planning committees in the City of Los Angeles.   If you have a question or want to open up a discussion, it is very simple to use.  Address your email to PlanCheckNCLA@simplelists.com.  The email will go out to all who are signed up on the ListServ and come through to you as an e-mail.   Important:  Please include your signature with your Neighborhood Council or Community Council position in all e-mails you send.  If you do not wish to receive these emails you can unsubscribe.  If you know anyone on your committees who you would like to include or invite, please send a request to plancheckncla@gmail.com and they will be added.

The list page/archive will be at: https://archives.simplelists.com/plancheckncla
Looking forward to great discussions and networking on the PlanCheckNCLA Discussion List.

Mark Your Calendars: Next PlanCheckNC meeting will be Saturday, January 13, 2018 – 10 a.m. – 1 p.m. at LAPD Hollenbeck.

Wishing you and yours a safe and Happy Holiday Season.

–Cindy Cleghorn
Chair, PlanCheckNC

PlanCheckNC | plancheckncla@gmail.com | http://plancheckncla.com
Los Angeles