Los Angeles City Planning Looks to Modernize Old Zoning Code

August 12th, 2014 by Fiedler Group

According to a recent article by the Los Angeles Times’ Tim Logan, the City of Los Angeles Planning Department is seeking to modernize and rewrite its seventy year old zoning code in order to make development more predictable and less costly — mirroring the needs of a modern city like Los Angeles.

The current 800 page zoning code — while well intentioned — often contradicts requirements in the city’s building code, leaving many developers confused and frustrated.

Tom Rothmann, of the City’s Planning Department commented, “We have a 1946 code for a 2014 city…We’re trying to do all these progressive things but we don’t have the tools in place.”

The modernization project — dubbed Re:Code LA — isn’t expected to be complete until 2017, and will take some time for the new zoning requirements to make their way out into the city’s community plans.

Since its initial publishing, the seventy year old, 96-page code document has added over 700 pages, attempting to patch and amend itself to keep up with more modern times.

The updated code is expected to streamline zones, create new ones, and consider the 35 community plans that cover neighborhoods around the city.

Numerous local planning issues must be addressed in the revamping of the current zoning code as modifying existing community plans can be a very contentious and emotional process that can take years to accomplish.

Additionally, Specific Plans, Special Districts, and Overlay zones impact an estimated 60 percent of the City and often result in different plan and overlay requirements impacting the same property.

A preliminary series of outlined recommendations and goals will soon be presented to the City Council.

To learn more about the modernization project, read the entire L.A. Times article.