Commission Recommends Local Planning Groups

A divided Los Angeles Planning Commission Thursday recommended the creation of six regional planning panels, including two in the San Fernando Valley, to provide residents with more localized decision-making.

Commissioner Rodger Landau said the new system of Area Planning Commissions, scheduled to begin operation July 1 after final approval by the City Council, will bring planning decisions closer to the neighborhoods they affect.

“It will keep local planning decisions local,” Landau said. “It will provide residents of the city of Los Angeles with the ability to participate in the planning process in their areas in a convenient location.”

The action also streamlines the planning process by making it simpler and easier to navigate, said Commission President Peter Weil. “What we recommended today is a dramatic revamping of the planning process,” he said.

The vote was 3-2, with Commissioners Robert Scott and Marna Schnabel favoring the creation of seven area panels so each would serve a smaller area and provide even more localized decision-making on planning issues.

The panel also rejected a proposal to put an area of the Santa Monica Mountains north of Mulholland Drive into the West Los Angeles planning area, after Scott, a Woodland Hills attorney, said the disputed territory has historically been considered part of the San Fernando Valley.

Under the plan recommended by the commission, the new panels would be as follows:

* The North Valley Commission for planning matters in the area roughly north of Roscoe Boulevard.

* The South Valley Commission for issues in the area south of Roscoe Boulevard and north of Mulholland Drive.

* The West Los Angeles Commission covering an area including Westchester, Venice, Bel-Air and Westwood.

* The Metro Area Commission will decide matters for an area including Boyle Heights, downtown, Hollywood, northeast Los Angeles, Silver Lake, Westlake and the Wilshire District.

* The South Los Angeles Commission will cover an area including West Adams, Baldwin Hills, Leimert Park, South-Central and Southeast Los Angeles.

* The Harbor Area Commission will decide issues for an area including San Pedro, Wilmington, Harbor City and Harbor Gateway.

Under the alternative favored by the commission minority, a seventh East Area Commission would have been created for part of the Metro Area that includes Boyle Heights, Northeast Los Angeles, Silver Lake and Echo Park.

The proposal now goes to the City Council, where some members have said they favor seven planning commissions.

In particular, Councilman Mike Hernandez has complained that the Metro area, which includes about 1.3 million residents, is too large, compared with 227,000 residents in the jurisdiction of the Harbor Area Commission, and less than 790,000 residents in each of two Valley planning areas.

However, Commissioner Landau argued against splitting the Metro area in two, saying it has represented 24.1% of the planning caseload of the city in the past, while the south Valley area represented 23.5% and West Los Angeles represented 22.8% of past caseload.

Dividing the Metro area in two would provide such a small caseload that there would be a less efficient use of city staff and resources supporting each panel, Landau said.

Scott said the Metro area should be split in two to provide “closer-to-home representation.”

The new commissions will take over responsibilities from the city Board of Zoning Appeals, which will be abolished. Members of each area commission must live in the area, which charter reform backers said will mean they will be more familiar with the neighborhoods affected by zoning decisions.

The area panels will operate in addition to a citywide Planning Commission, which voters expanded from five to nine members. The city commission will continue to handle planning matters with citywide impact, such as those involving airports, police stations, power plants and affordable housing.

The citywide panel will also still make recommendations on the city’s general plan.

The Area Planning Commissions will have decision-making power on property within their areas for zone variances and conditional use permits, including appeals of decisions by the city planner and zoning administrator.

Developments that the Area Planning Commissions would act on include motels, gas stations, swap meets, fast-food restaurants, massage parlors, liquor stores, gun stores and pawn shops.