Sunland-Tujunga : Council OKs Foothill Blvd. Specific Plan

The Los Angeles City Council on Wednesday approved the Foothill Boulevard Specific Plan, a far-reaching blueprint for growth along the street that has been in the works for more than six years.

The specific plan, which will take effect in October, is intended to attract better-quality businesses to the 4.2-mile stretch, roughly between Sunland Boulevard and Lowell Avenue, and to restrict new apartment buildings to a few specified areas.

“I’m really delighted,” said City Councilman Joel Wachs, whose district includes the area, after the unanimous council vote. “The community has worked long and hard on the plan, which has the overwhelming support of both the residents and the commercial property owners.”

Under the plan, four commercial areas have been targeted for revitalization and four others have been designated as zones where apartment buildings, condominiums and mixed-use structures will be permitted.

The plan also gives the city the power to require apartment builders to widen streets, construct sidewalks, install additional parking and include other public improvements as a condition of project approval. In the past, apartment developers were not subject to such conditions.

New buildings are limited to two stories along most of the boulevard, but structures up to three stories high will be permitted in the revitalization sections, known as major activity areas.

There are no density limits per se, but because of the plan’s additional parking, landscaping and setback requirements, new apartments and condos will be less dense than their predecessors, according to R. Nicolas Brown, the city planner assigned to the plan.

“It’s not going to happen overnight, but we will eventually have a business district that will be more varied and much better than what we have now,” said J. Sylvia Gross, a local resident and member of the citizens advisory committee that worked with the city Planning Department to develop the plan.

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Approving A Growth Plan

The Foothill Boulevard Specific Plan was approved by the Los Angeles City Council Wednesday after six years of planning. The plan, a blueprint for growth along a stretch of Foothill Boulevard, will restrict new apartment buildings to a few specified areas.