Readers React: Los Angeles’ failure to zone

To the editor: The city of Los Angeles fails to update its community plans and fails to track its infrastructure needs. Then it uses those failures to excuse itself for failing to adhere to outdated plans or foresee problems. (“Hollywood debate is trial run for city growth fight,” Nov. 23)

I was once told by an L.A. Planning Commission president that the city couldn’t possibly abide by a zoning code written in the 1940s. But if the zoning code is just window dressing, then what exactly is guiding our planning?

When the city tried to update the Hollywood community plan in 2012 that would have allowed for higher-density projects like the Palladium Residences, some angry neighborhood groups, with the able assistance of lawyer Robert P. Silverstein, got the result thrown out by the courts. So now the developers and City Hall use them as cover for continuing the game of enrichment by spot zoning.

The problem wasn’t a defective plan, it was a recalcitrant populace, a cunning lawyer and a dupe of a judge. And so the city marches on, with a wink and a nod instead of a map.

David Ewing, Venice

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To the editor: We elected a mayor to run the city, not a bunch of complainers who want to keep Hollywood in the dormant state they are accustomed to.

I drive between either end of Hollywood quite often and find the traffic has hardly changed in 30 years. It has always been bad. Changes must be made that some will not like, and concentrating residential development near mass transit just makes good sense.

The AIDS Healthcare Foundation, which occupies a building next to the Palladium and opposes the project, should concentrate on its good work and leave the growth curve to those who understand it.

William Bergmann, Hollywood

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