L.A. Council Extends Silver Lake, Echo Park Building Moratorium

The Los Angeles City Council has voted, 12 to 1, to approve a six-month extension of the partial building moratorium in effect in the portions of Silver Lake and Echo Park that fall within Councilman John Ferraro’s 4th District.

The moratorium bans the issuance of permits for any project that conflicts with the Community Plan for Silver Lake and Echo Park. The moratorium is designed to give city planners time to revise lot-by-lot zoning so that it agrees with the general outlines of the Community Plan as required by state law and a recent Superior Court ruling.

The plan severely cuts potential growth in Silver Lake-Echo Park and would, in effect, ban large apartment projects from much of the seven-square-mile area. With its emphasis on single-family houses and small apartment buildings, the plan would allow about 94,300 residents, 16,000 more than the current population. Existing zoning would allow as many as 195,000 residents.

The moratorium in the 4th District originally passed in November and was to have lasted six months, with a possible six-month extension.

The sole vote against the extension last week was cast by David Cunningham (10th District), who has opposed all such measures.

The rest of Silver Lake and Echo Park is in the 13th District, represented by Councilwoman Peggy Stevenson. A similar six-month moratorium for those parts of the 13th District was approved in December and is expected to be similarly extended, Stevenson aide Dan Wooldridge said.