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The “Pep Boys” project is coming back to the Neighorhood Council Planning & Land Use Committee on October 15th. The agenda and supporting documents will be posted on this page when available. This project is huge and planned for the Pep Boys/Del Taco lots at Manchester/La Tijera. Please plan on coming out. If they’ve scaled back their project and dropped their discretionary “asks,” there is nothing we can do, but I’m skeptical this is the case.
The Meeting
As I reported in my last newsletter, the City’s Community Plan Update Team presented the latest draft of the Community Plan Update (“CPU”) to the full Neighborhood Council (“NC”) last night. Since the current draft of the CPU has been out since March and fully discussed since, there wasn’t much new information in the presentation. The next draft is probably 4-6 months away.
In fact, there is a movement afoot among Neighborhood Councils to push for a pause on CPU’s until the Housing Element is finalized in February. This makes sense because at present, we are kind of “planning” in a vacuum, not knowing the implications of the builder incentive program (“CHIP”) on our community. Our own NC voted last night to support the pause based on a WRAC motion.
Notable From The Presentation
I did note a couple of items from the presentation. Again, if you’ve been following the whole saga, there was very little new information presented last night. If you’re totally new to this whole CPU thing, start here.
There is a policy document underlying the plan. I can’t tell if it is set in stone or still open for revision, but I do know that nobody is talking about it, and I have a feeling we need to take a deep dive into this document to see if anything is lurking there that could hurt us. I see 8+ “policies” on the planning website, so I really don’t even know what “the” policy document is referenced in the slides last night.
The planners acknowledged that our plan area has carried a big load with Playa Vista. They claim the same for Howard Hughes.
The eastern portion of Playa Vista (closer to the freeway) is being planned as a hybrid industrial area (think “work/live” units), which could be very cool. We’ll see. The area around the metro station is being looked to for hybrid industrial also, but I’m not sure how that is supposed to mix with the surrounding R-1. If anybody has studied either of these areas, I’d love to post any guest article you’d care to write. Let me know.
Probably the most notable part of the presentation is that the mid-level planner on the team stated that we will get our unit allocation in the EIR process. If you’ve been following this process for awhile, you will know that we’ve all been asking exactly how many units we are supposed to plan for, and the planners always deny knowing the answer to that question.
We know the LA goal for this 6th housing cycle is ~255K units (really ~500K units but we already had ~245K zoned for appropriately). We also know other CPUs had already contributed 200K units, so it’s a valid question to want to know how many units we need to plan for. Most of the commitment should theoretically already be met.
The problem is that the planners keep saying that the CPU is a 30 year planning document but the current housing cycle only lasts through January 2031. I fear city planning going to try to shove more units down our throat than we need, claiming that we’re futureproofing past 2031.
What is wrong with futureproofing? If we rezone huge swaths of land, we are going to get random density that might make no sense for our infrastructure and no sense for the neighbors.
The real real real problem is that we are seeing a record outbound migration in LA, and our population growth is predicted to be flat through 2060! Huge numbers of rezoned lots is not justifiable.
So the unit obligation has been a legitimate, ongoing question that the planners claimed to have no knowledge of. Last night was the first indication of learning the number, but will it be too late to fight, once we’re in the EIR process, and why do we have to wait that long? Hearing this was notable. It was not comforting. 🙃
The senior planner stated there are some soft projections in Draft #2. Anybody care to dig in on that Treasure Hunt?
New Developments In Our Community Since March
What is more notable than last night’s presentation are new developments in our community since March, as well as some interesting comments from the Neighborhood Council members.
The biggest development is that the ED-1 developers are coming after our community big time! Approximately 1400 units are in process. If you’re not familiar with ED-1, it is an Executive Directive issued by Mayor Bass on December 16, 2022, aiming to expedite project and funding approvals for 100% affordable units.
“Expedite” means the public can’t interfere. These units are coming and they’re coming soon. As far as I can tell, the CPU team is not adjusting their density plans with any consideration for the huge number of units in the pipeline, but ED-1 and non-ED-1. This is alarming, which I consider one notch above concerning. 😁
Please share about these projects. We all need to be aware. Find the pending/approved list and projected unit count here. This list seems to suggest more for our area are headed to the pending/approval list as lobbyists register for new projects.
Interesting Comments From Our Council Members
Some of the comments I heard that struck a chord:
- Dennis Miller – we’ll lose truly affordable housing to build some not so affordable housing (planners maintain that the Resident Protection Ordinance will protect them)
- Julie Ross – LAWA needs to be at the table (senior planner said they are talking to LAWA)
- Chip Mallek – our LAX arterials are shared with other non-LA jurisdictions and they need to be at the table – El Segundo/South Bay, Inglewood, Culver City
- Theresa Torrance – we are in a tsunami evacuation zone (the senior planner promised to consult the city’s emergency management department, but I find this compelling myself)
- Matt Lipschutz – talked about the outbound migration numbers
- Alex Reynolds – major university in our footprint and no discussion about those traffic and housing implications
Rumors In The Community
I also need to address rumors I’ve been hearing in the community. These rumors were very much in the room last night and they have to stop.
The first is that Westchester is “being targeted” for ED-1 projects and nobody else is. There is no conspiracy to plaster Westchester with projects. The sad (for us) truth is that we have the cheapest land values on the westside and we are close to the ocean. Cheap land is the only way for affordable unit developers to maximize their revenue. They are limited in what they can charge whether the units are in Brentwood or Westchester. Which community do you think is going to cheaper to buy? The conspiracy crap has got to stop.
Second, the planners have zero control over ED-1 projects. They cannot limit the projects and people going to meetings to demand that don’t understand the limitations.
Third, there is a group in the community going from commercial lot to commercial lot, filming themselves demanding downzoning from the city. Again, they don’t understand that commercial lots in our plan area are already zoned for unlimited height, and our CPU planners and every other CPU team are charged with upzoning. Downzoning is not on the menu of options.
Fourth, claims are being made that Brentwood & The Palisades are being “protected.” This is silly. Yes, they are not in the midst of a CPU and therefore not being considered for that class of upzoning at this time, but they are not exempt from the Housing Element and they are not exempt from ED-1. Will they be less desirable to developers? I think they will be for the ED-1 projects from a cost perspective, but Housing Element implications remain to be seen after adoption.
Further, they will be next in line for CPU’s, but it will be awhile.
A Breath Of Fresh Air
There is one breath of fresh air in these otherwise suffocating topics. Cory Birkett, a member of the Concerned Alliancemade a presentation at the last Neighborhood Council Community Plan Update Ad Hoc Committee meeting floating the idea of a special restricted zone for us in light of the ED-1 implications and our role as gateway to LAX. This idea is in the early exploration stages but shows promise. I’m optimistic, and thank Cory for her out of box thinking. She has been a tireless warrior in this CPU fight on behalf of our community.
So that’s it for today. I’ll be back to you as events unfold. The next big fight is CHIP at PLUM and the full City Council. Neither meeting is scheduled yet.
UPDATE To Recent Legislative Review
Every bill was signed into law except AB 1840. 🙄
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100% of this week’s newsletter was generated by me, Tracy Thrower Conyers. No AI here. And if I add any, I will tell you. 😊
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Until Next Time…
Be well and use this link to refer others to The Politics Of Housing. Let’s grow a community here on substack!
Concerned For Westchester Playa – Sharing upzoning and housing policy information and guidance to residents in Westchester, Playa del Rey, Ladera & Playa Vista
Concerned For Westchester Playa 