Thoughts on Simplifying LA's Planning Code

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The Planning Code for the City of Los Angeles is based on words yet it dictates the physical form in which the City grows.  Everything is described in words but not in illustrations, the few illustrations it contains highlight minuscule details such as retaining walls or parking angles.  This is a picture of the four pages that dictates the form for LA's most common development:  the single-family R1 zone.

Another point can be made here:  these four pages need to be used with the Code's 700 plus pages in order to add to or build a new single-family.  Also, there are six other single family zones and five subsets.  And if the property is in an historic, coastal, hillside, design, specific plan, or other overlay zone, an additional set of documents need to be followed.

Los Angeles is undergoing a 5 year multi-million dollar effort to change this.  Since childhood I have been fascinated with City form so when this project was announced I was immensely intrigued.  But after decades of working with LA's word-based Code I was slow to understand how a form-based code can be created for a City built with words.  I decided to try it.

Using the LA's existing regulations, for the R1 zone, I started with a simple form:

               Will people understand the drawing enough to know what can be built on their street?  

               Does this accurately illustrate the R1 zone?

It is hard to answer the first question but comparing it to the the four pages illustrated above, I think the drawing is easier to understand.  This argues for the creation of a form-based code.

But the drawing does not capture the many exceptions that can be built on an R1 zoned street, there are way too many.  

I am coming to the conclusion that an R1 form-based zone, and all the other residential zones, needs to be created and applied to every block.  Further, the number of existing zones is not going to be enough to encompass the variety of existing single-family residential development.

                              ADD DRAWING HERE of a Zone overlaid on existing block.

Other Thoughts

--code simplification won't be achieved until every block has an overlay and the existing Code
   is dismissed
--simplification won't be achieved unless the entire code is replaced;  replacing it partially will be
   confusing
--a form-based code is likely to be inherently simpler and smaller but requires the user to have some        
   kind of spatial perception as opposed to a written perception;  the latter is more common
--for blocks and properties that are not rectangles, the same form can be imposed but existing
  overlays applied (i.e. specific plans), or if none, the exceptions applied
--currently the Building Department administers the Code, transitioning to a form-based code begs
   the question of whether this can or should continue.  Either way the transition will have a major
   impact on the Building and maybe the Planning Department.  Resources need to be allocated.

LAX is an Unrecognized Chunk of Urban Design

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LAX is undergoing major changes.  Most of these have to do with access and enhancing the traveller's comfort and experience.

I posit that the urban form of LAX is also very important to a traveller's comfort and experience.  Therefore it's urban form should be considered in the proposed changes.  How the traveller perceives their LAX visit is framed by their grasp of its total environment and not only how easy it is to get through it, find a good place to eat and shop, or idle time waiting for a flight.

The less confusing LAX looks the more positive impression it will make.  Being able to understand it's layout and form is important to that perception.

The link below illustrates a proposed urban design form for LAX.

An Earlier Study of LAX's Urban Form

Gambling as a Way to Fund Housing

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California State law allows cities to set the rules on gambling

—method to provide fees for affordable housing

—annual taxes on business licenses for gambling houses

—tax on gambling revenue

—penal code of California lists what kinds of gambling activity are prohibited

—cities can create their own regulations outside of these prohibitions

—City of LA Muni Code Chapter 4 states more gambling activities that are illegal (everything State didn’t catch LA makes illegal)

—this section would have to be repealed or amended

—lobbying effort fellow council members

—neighborhood councils

—housing advocates

—building industry

—gambling is an industry ideal for Hollywood;  can be cited in Hollywood but revenues to fund housing can be distributed to all council districts

--GAMBLING FUNDS HOUSING AND SOCIAL SERVICES IN INDIAN RESERVATIONS

--gambling revenue lost to casino day bus trips can be captured 

Hospitality Zones: Encouraging and Simplifying the Establishment of Hospitality Businesses

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In many cities, hospitality businesses such as hotels, dance clubs, and restaurants and bars that serve alcohol, require a business to go through a public hearing and lengthy and cumbersome process called a conditional use permit (CUP). The purpose is to gauge their impact on a neighborhood and to determine conditions that would relieve those impacts.

But they are called "hospitality" businesses for a reason--because they serve people. Which also means they bring people into a community, and pedestrian activity, and street life, and business. This begs the question, does every hospitality business need to go through a CUP even if they are located in a neighborhood that is trying to revitalize?  And what about neighborhoods such as Hollywood that are built on welcoming the hospitality industry?  Can things be simplified?

I would proposed that they can under a planning tool called a hospitality zone.  In this zone an objective is identified, such as revitalization, and procedures simplified.  Safeguards can also be designated and standardized making the process simpler.

For example, in this section of Beverly Boulevard the neighborhood council asked us to see how business and pedestrian activity can be stimulated:

INSERT MAP

Instead of each business needing to go through a CUP this area can be re-zoned to minimize the amount of review each business needs to go.   At the same time standardized conditions such as hours, security, parking, and the number and size of businesses are imposed.

A hospitality zone can eliminate the need for a public hearing and simplify other procedures.

They can be controlled as a group, rather than individually, but if a particular business becomes a problem Los Angeles has an established revocation process to control a problem business.

Videos As Tools for Communication of Land Use Issues - A Real Example

Despite the fact that video screens are everywhere, as a tool for communication of land use issues they are greatly underutilized.  When there is an argument to make on a proposed project, either for or against, videos seem like an ideal tool to reach people to present that argument.

Which is easier to do?  Read a government report, newspaper article, brochure or other document, or watch a quick video on your phone while waiting in line at the market?

If a picture is worth a 1000 words, how much is a picture with sound?  Here is a recent real example:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wSjjLjEF3VQ

How effective was the video?  I asked people if they thought it influenced their outcome of the proposed tower and no one gave a clear answer but you can see what got built and what is still a drawing.

                                          

Downtown LA's DASH Mini-Bus System Needs Rethinking

The DASH mini-bus system that serves Downtown LA (DTLA) consists of 5 lines.  They are laid out in a confusing arrangement that requires careful map study.  For an area built on a simple grid, the DASH lines manage to remarkably mangle that grid.

Only one line runs on week-ends and everyday they all stop running after 7 pm.  All these facts should make it obvious that the system was designed in an era when Downtown Los Angeles functioned during business hours only. 

The proposed street car will not cover half the area the DASH lines cover.

Meanwhile DASH covers most of Downtown Los Angeles.  But by the end of the year DTLA's newest and greenest attraction will open and only one line will service it--two blocks away and only during business hours.

Los Angeles State Historic Park

It's time to re-think not only how DTLA is served by DASH but how everyone--tourists, residents, workers--can access the park.

GUIDELINES FOR RE-THINKING DASH LINES

--make the bus lines more intuitive to use by incorporating the            

        existing street pattern in their re-arrangement

        (i.e. north, south, east, west lines)

--analyze needs of residents, workers, and visitors

      (identify high activity areas and hours)

--integrate into the rail and bus lines

NOTE:  On March 1, 2015 a new Dash schedule with minor route and schedule changes went into effect.   However, my same criticisms of irregular routes and limited hours still apply to the changes.  It is time for all stakeholders to ask elected officials to RETHINK Downtown DASH!

Recognizing the Grand Axis that is Grand Park

Los Angeles' GRAND PARK sits within the middle of LA's civic buildings in a grand linear axis that makes for a great walk.

However, that walk is one-sided because it slopes steeply downhill in the direction of the arrow.  Walking from the top of the hill (DWP / Music Center) the steepness is disguised because the park is broken up into three parts separated by busy streets.

 Walking in this direction the route is also marked by an iconic building at the end -- LA's City Hall.  City Hall provides a clear direction to the east end of this Grand Axis.

Walking in the other direction, however, is another story.  Not only is it uphill but the end is not clear even though it's worth the journey.  At the end is the DWP building and in front of it, but barely visible, the Music Center.

To get to the top there are many stairs

And other obstacles

But at the western end of the Grand Axis there are rewards such as fountains and downtown views and the Music Center Plaza

The Grand Axis that is Grand Park is likely to change in the future.   Some County buildings need earthquake repairs and there is already an area for a park addition at its lower end that could bend the axis.  While the Grand Axis of Paris may have been planned the Grand Axis of LA is almost accidental and should be recognized and enhanced.  Suggestions welcomed.