Mt. Washington Plan to Be Focus of Hearing

A proposed ordinance that would impose new rules on home-building and other development projects in the Mt. Washington-Glassell Park area will be the focus of a public hearing today.

Northeast Los Angeles residents will be able to comment on the draft Mt. Washington-Glassell Park Specific Plan Ordinance at the hearing, which begins at 4 p.m. in the auditorium of Nightingale Junior High School, 3311 N. Figueroa St.

The proposal offers two alternatives to restrict hillside housing construction.

One, endorsed by a citizens advisory committee, would use a floor-area-ratio formula and an absolute height limit to restrict the size of new hillside houses. The other, backed by the city’s Planning Department, would use a fixed lot-coverage formula and a parallel slope height limit.

Other portions of the plan would require larger side yards and limited landscaping along two “scenic view corridors, Mt. Washington Drive and San Rafael Avenue, prohibit the removal or relocation of significant trees without city approval, provide for the acquisition of land for pedestrian walking trails, and impose new guidelines on apartment and mixed commercial-residential projects.

Copies of the draft ordinance are available at the Los Angeles Planning Department and City Council field offices and at the Arroyo Seco Branch Library, 6145 N. Figueroa St.