Public Hearing Set on Zoning in Mar Vista, Palms, W. Los Angeles

The Los Angeles Planning Department will hold a public hearing Sept. 16 on a plan to bring zoning for the Palms-Mar Vista-Del Rey District into conformance with the city’s General Plan.

State legislation and a 1985 Los Angeles Superior Court ruling require the city to bring its zoning laws and its General Plan into agreement.

The zoning laws covering about one-fourth of the parcels in the city conflict with the General Plan, partly because the City Council has approved development in excess of the plan.

In response to 1979 state legislation and a court order last year, the city is drafting zoning consistency programs for 35 areas including the Palms-Mar Vista-Del Rey district.

The proposed changes generally reduce zoning to the levels approved in the General Plan, according to city planner Gary Booher.

Amendments to increase zoning will be sought where the preponderance of development in an area exceeds that called for in the General Plan, he said.

The department has proposed changes that would allow for a 1.4% increase in population in the Palms-Mar Vista-Del Rey area, to 133,300 from the 131,500 envisioned in a district plan adopted in 1976.

The irregularly bounded district includes Palms, Mar Vista and the area of West Los Angeles that lies just east of Marina del Rey.

The area is predominantly residential under both the new and old plans. The proposal shows 72.1% of the district’s 5,270 acres devoted to housing (2,572 acres single-family and 1,226 acres multiple-family). Only about 6.2% (327 acres) is commercial and 7.9% (417 acres) is industrial under the proposed plan.

Reports, maps and reference materials are available at Mar Vista Library, 12006 Venice Blvd; Palms-Rancho Park Library, 2920 Overland Ave.; City Council field offices at 1140 S. Robertson Blvd. and 7166 W. Manchester Ave., and at the council and city planning offices at 1645 Corinth Ave.

Public comment will be heard Sept. 16 at Mark Twain Junior High School, 2224 Walgrove Ave. A hearing officer will take testimony at 2 p.m. on properties north of Washington Boulevard and east of the San Diego Freeway, after 3 on properties north of Washington and west of the freeway and after 4 on properties south of Washington.

Written comment is being accepted by the city Planning Department, City Hall Room 605, 200 N. Spring St., Los Angeles 90012.