Do We Finally Have The Full Plan?

The CPU Process Starts

Draft 1 of our Community Plan Update from City Planning was a very straightforward affair with lots of community meetings and community input back in 2020. Then COVID happened and everything stopped. Post-COVID, the city seems to have forgotten it has community stakeholders, at least in Westchester Playa.

The CPU Process Restarts But Differently

As the city started back up with our CPU, it formed a 52-member Advisory Group with only five members from Westchester even though we are 25% of the four westside communities working our CPUs together. Oh, and four of those people were chosen to represent special interest groups, not us. More about the Advisory Group here.

The Advisory Group would be the only party in the conversation with Planning about our CPU, if Planning had its way. They were only meeting with the Advisory Group and were only posting updates to that group’s website.

Then the public caught wind of what was going on and groups like members of our Alliance started shining a light on the new drafts and demanding meetings with the planners.

The Advisory Group strategy was a 180 degree pivot from the full public strategy of the first draft and an abject failure.

Where We’re At Now In The Process

Below are the maps provided to the Advisory Group but not stakeholders (unless you happened to know where to look and happened to do so, like we did).

These maps are supposed to be consolidated before the end of the year and we’re told the public gets more input, but we fear that input will be in the EIR process when the maps are mostly set.

The first map was called the Residential Map. We thought it was the full residential plan and we all almost had heart attacks by the gross density proposed in that map, especially around the Sepulveda/Manchester Quadrant.

Then the Commercial Map dropped and we were shocked to see how much more density the city thinks we are willing to pile on top of commercial businesses, in addition to what is in the Residential Map.

Oh, and then the Industrial Map dropped. What? It took me several reads to discover that yet more housing is contained on this map.

Seriously? Did you know that Westchester is forecast to decline in population? Why do we need three maps worth of grossly densified high-rises in a community that was built for single family homes and doesn’t have the infrastructure to be the Wilshire Corridor of the beach cities?

Not to mention a community landlocked by the 405, Marina Channel/Kentwood Bluffs, Pacific Ocean and LAX.

And speaking of LAX, these densification plans are going to wreak havoc with LAX’s plans to grow flights. The whole plan is stupid. It’s not innovative and it’s not inspired. It’s straight up gross densification for the sake of stuffing in a bunch market rate boxes.

Is This The Whole Plan?

We’ve been told our planners are done dropping maps, other than a consolidated map promised for September. Hopefully we’re looking at the whole draft plan now.

As a reminder, we are in the CPU process with three other westside communities – Venice, Palms/Mar Vista/Del Rey and West LA under the cutesy name of “Planning The Westside.”

Why the other CD-11 communities of Brentwood, Pacific Palisades and Ladera aren’t in this “westside” plan with us remains a mystery, although we have some theories.

The combined maps can be found here, here and here. But don’t forget you have to also read the separate supporting documents to even begin to read the maps (correspondence tables, GPLU keys, policy documents, housing element and maybe things we don’t even know about yet).

For your convenience, I’ve excerpted images of the Westchester Playa maps below for a quick visual, but as mentioned above the maps do not tell the entire story, sadly.

The Westchester Playa Plan

The entire plan is so grossly full of density and high-rises, even the city couldn’t capture it all in one map. Here are our three maps, all with residential implications.

The Residential Map

The residential map was apparently drawn with a new Manchester/Sepulveda TOC in mind, as well as the new Hindry light rail metro station. More has been written on the TOC here and the Osage commercial plan here.

The Commercial Map

The Industrial Map

Does This Plan Provide Affordable Housing?

A lot of people accept the “we need density” narrative because they are told that is how we get affordable housing.

The narrative is, sadly, partially true. The only mechanism the city currently uses to incentivize affordable units is to provide extras to market rate developers to build a couple of token affordable units. 

In fact, I’ve been in meetings with the planners recently where they admit we need gross densification to meet our affordable housing targets.

Did you take that in? We’re supposed to absorb thousands of ugly boxes we don’t need to get a few affordable units. Does that make any sense? Is that a good use of our resources?

How about the city ponies up to subsidize developers to build more affordable units instead of giving away our low density communities for random acts of blighted densification??

Are You Mad Yet?

What do you think about the maps and the plan? Not mad yet? Read this.

Mad enough to sign our petition? Find it here.

Mad enough to hit the streets with us? Find out how you can help here.

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Tracy is active in a number of local community organizations including the Neighborhood Council PLUC, Neighborhood Council Ad Hoc CPU Committee, Kentwood Home Guardians and Emerson Ave Community Garden Club. The views expressed in this post are Tracy’s alone, and should not be construed in any way as an opinion of any other group. Are you planning a meeting with the planners? Have Tracy along to make sure you get the same information other community members get. Are you willing to host a group of your neighbors for a talk? Tracy would be happy to join you.

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About Tracy Thrower Conyers Tracy Thrower Conyers is a long-time resident of Westchester 90045. Tracy closely follows local politics, political players and social chatter relevant to Westchester. You’ll frequently find her at Neighborhood Council meetings, as well as on all the social platforms where 90045 peeps hang out. Tracy is a real estate broker and founding principal in Silicon Beach Properties. She is a recognized expert on Silicon Beach and its impact on residential and residential income real estate, and has been featured by respected media outlets including the LA Times, KPCC and KCET. Tracy is also a licensed attorney and accidental housing policy junkie.