Marina del Rey : Commercial Growth Limits

The Los Angeles Planning Commission last week approved an early version of a plan to control commercial growth in the Marina del Rey area southeast of the heavily congested intersection of Lincoln and Washington boulevards.

The proposal, suggested by Councilwoman Ruth Galanter, attempts to balance the sometimes clashing needs of the area’s residents, industry, and commerce.

The Glencoe/Maxella area, bounded by Lincoln and Washington boulevards and Redwood and Maxella avenues, is one of the largest remaining concentrations of industrially zoned properties on the Westside. But in recent years, rapidly growing commercial businesses in the area, including shopping malls, restaurants and cinemas, have threatened to displace longtime industry, further congesting traffic and frustrating local residents.

Galanter has proposed creating a zone in the area that would preserve existing industrial uses while putting the brakes on new industrial and commercial development.

The plan, which is the result of three years of public workshops and meetings, also establishes new height and density limitations, limits on traffic increases, and guidelines for new residential construction. Before the plan can be presented to the City Council for final approval, it must be sent to the council’s Planning and Land Use Management Committee. The committee is expected to hold a hearing on the proposal sometime this spring.