Committee Proposes 7 Planning Panels

Overturning a vote of the Planning Commission, a Los Angeles City Council panel recommended Tuesday that seven area planning commissions be created throughout Los Angeles.

The Planning Commission had recommended that six local planning commissions be created, including two in the San Fernando Valley, based on the caseload of each area.

But members of the council’s Planning and Land Use Management Committee recommended that one of the six, the Metro Area, be divided in two so that the population would be more equal between areas.

The proposal now goes to the council’s Ad Hoc Committee on Charter Implementation, then on to the full council before final action.

Councilman Hal Bernson, chairman of the committee, said creation of seven area planning commissions will provide more localized decision making on local planning issues.

“One of the things we are trying to do is make it easier to deal with the city,” Bernson said.