Control Threat Spurs City Hall Moves to Limit Development

Under mounting pressure to prevent new environmental problems, some of the most faithful believers in new growth at Los Angeles City Hall are acknowledging that closer controls on development in the city have become unavoidable.

The pressure has come in the way of warnings from regulatory bodies, including the federal Environmental Protection Agency, that Los Angeles officials may be held responsible for the smog and ocean pollution attributable to the city’s rising population.

In meetings and interviews Friday, officials said the most significant shift in favor of new controls has come from Councilman Hal Bernson, considered by many as the most determined backer of aggressive development on the City Council.

‘Reasonable’ Limits

Bernson released a proposal Friday for “phased growth,” in which he calls for “reasonable” limits on new development. The limits might include taking into account the traffic and air pollution effects of new projects, and using the city’s authority over development to encourage growth in poorer areas of the city.

The ideas themselves were not new, but the fact that they were unveiled by Bernson was seen by officials as confirmation that the threat of penalties against the city is being taken seriously. Bernson is chairman of the council’s Planning and Environment Committee, the panel with the most influence over land development matters.

“Bernson’s announcement is being taken as a major evolution,” said an aide to Mayor Tom Bradley.

The population of Los Angeles was about 2.9 million in 1980, but it is now estimated to be over 3.3 million. The EPA has judged that Los Angeles officials caused some of the growth to occur by building a new sewage treatment plant in the San Fernando Valley, and has ordered the city to keep a 1982 promise to compensate for the increased air pollution.

In addition, the South Coast Air Quality Management District has indicated to city officials that stricter regulation of all air pollution sources is being considered.

In addition to Bernson, Bradley and top officials of the city Department of Planning and the Planning Commission have also begun to concede that new developmental controls are needed. The mayor and his planning aides have been strong defenders of the city’s growth, especially the large-scale redevelopment of downtown.

Bradley on Friday sent letters ordering several of the city’s largest departments to consider changes in policy that will cut down on air pollution.

The Community Redevelopment Agency, which is carrying out a massive downtown construction program with Bradley’s blessing, was ordered to look for ways to include more housing among the plans for office towers and industrial parks. In particular, Bradley suggested that the city help the owners of older buildings near Little Tokyo to comply with codes and zoning limits that impede the conversion of apartments and lofts.

Bradley Administration aides said that making it easier for people to live downtown, and in other areas near large concentrations of jobs, will reduce the air pollution created by commuters. Planners have argued for years that causing a massive shift in where people live and work is the best way to reduce commuting, a major contributor to smog in Southern California.

“Clearly, the accepted notions of land-use planning will have to change throughout the Southern California area in order for our air-quality goals to be achieved,” Bradley wrote to John Tuite, CRA director.

Officials in the Bradley Administration and elsewhere in City Hall have also begun to inventory any policies implemented in recent years that can be interpreted as helping to reduce air pollution.

Bradley on Friday sent letters directing the Department of Water and Power and the departments that run the airports and harbor to reduce their contributions to air pollution.

The threat of outside regulation because of smog has been quietly circulating through city offices since last December, when the EPA first informed city officials that the agency was planning to accuse the city of inducing new growth.

Last March, City Councilman Zev Yaroslavsky proposed a detailed “clean air initiative” that would force officials to consider the impact on smog of development decisions. Some of the more minor elements were adopted by the City Council, but the larger piece that could force new limits on development is still awaiting action.