INTRODUCTION
The General Plan Framework Element is a strategy for long-term growth which
sets a citywide context to guide the update of the community plan and citywide
elements. The Element responds to State and Federal mandates to plan for
the future. In planning for the future, the City of Los Angeles is using
population forecasts provided by the Southern California Association of
Governments (SCAG). The Framework Element does not mandate or encourage
growth. Because population forecasts are estimates about the future and
not an exact science, it is possible that population growth as estimated
may not occur: it may be less or it may be more. The City could be at the
beginning of a long decline in population or at the beginning of a sharp
increase.
The Element is based on the population forecasts provided by SCAG. Should
the City continue to grow, the Element provides a means for accommodating
new population and employment in a manner which enhances rather than degrades
the environment. The City does not have the option of stopping growth and
sending it elsewhere. It must prepare for it, should growth occur. In preparing
the General Plan Framework Element, the City has answered the question "What
would the City do if it had to accommodate this many more people?"
In answer to that question there are two possibilities: 1) prepare a Plan
to accommodate density equally among all City neighborhoods, or 2) prepare
a plan to preserve the single-family neighborhoods and focus density --
should it occur -- in limited areas linked to infrastructure.
A plan to spread growth among all neighborhoods negatively affects all single-family
neighborhoods equally, and continues strip commercial development patterns
without respect to available infrastructure and transportation facilities.
A plan to focus growth preserves single-family and low density neighborhoods
and affords a closer relationship with available infrastructure.
The Framework Element refines adopted City policy and is intended to update
Concept Los Angeles. The central theme of Concept Los Angeles was to preserve
single-family neighborhoods by focusing any growth away from them and into
centers. While planning for the future is demanding and challenging for
the City, it is clear that given the choices about how best to respond to
the mandates to plan for growth, the Framework Element is clearly the better
alternative.
GENERAL PLAN FRAMEWORK ELEMENT AND ITS RELATIONSHIP TO THE
CITY OF LOS
ANGELES GENERAL PLAN
The Framework Element supersedes Concept Los Angeles and the Plan citywide
elements of the City of Los Angeles General Plan, and sets forth a citywide
comprehensive long-range growth strategy. It defines citywide policies that
will be implemented through subsequent amendments of the City's community
plans, zoning ordinances, and other pertinent programs. In many respects,
the Framework Element is an evolution of the Centers Concept, adopted in
1974, that provides fundamental guidance regarding the City's future. The
City of Los Angeles is a city of cultural and natural diversity: its communities
reflect a variety of people, while its environment reflects a variety of
natural features ranging from mountains and hills to rivers, wetlands and
coastal areas. This Element contains policies that are intended to maintain
this diversity.
While the Framework Element incorporates a diagram that depicts the generalized
distribution of centers, districts, and mixed-use boulevards throughout
the City, it does not convey or affect entitlements for any property. Specific
land use designations are determined by the community plans. The Framework
Element provides guidelines for future updates of the City's community plans.
It does not supersede the more detailed community and specific plans.
1. Land Use
2. Housing
3. Urban Form and Neighborhood Design
4. Open Space and Conservation
5. Economic Development
6. Transportation
7. Infrastructure and Public Services
PREPARATION OF THE GENERAL PLAN FRAMEWORK
ELEMENT
Over a period of several years, the Departments of City Planning and Transportation,
in collaboration with a team of professional consultants, outside organizations,
and residents from all parts of the City, developed the Proposed Framework
Element. The primary means was approximately 60 community and neighborhood
workshops, at which more than 3,000 residents and business persons participated.
IMPLEMENTATION OF THE GENERAL PLAN FRAMEWORK
ELEMENT
Implementation of the General Plan Framework Element will be achieved through
plans, ordinances, standards and guidelines, studies, capital improvements,
economic development procedures, administrative procedures, and coordination
with other governmental agencies, coordination and joint partnerships with
private landowners and developers, and development review procedures. Many
of the Element's policies will be implemented by the revision of the community
plans and the Municipal Code, which is the basic mechanism through which
the City regulates the use and development of land. The full-text Element
specifies the implementation programs associated with each Framework Element
policy.
OVERVIEW OF THE GENERAL PLAN FRAMEWORK ELEMENT
The following sections present an overview of the principal Framework Element
policies. Some policies have been paraphrased for the purposes of brevity.
Refer to the full-text chapters for the complete text.
Basis for Planning: Growth and Capacity
The General Plan Framework Element is based on a planning horizon for population
and employment growth: that the City's population could increase by approximately
820,000 residents and employment by approximately 390,000 jobs. The City
is not promoting this population growth. Rather, pursuant to conformity
requirements, it has developed this Element to establish policies to best
accommodate this growth when and if it should occur. The population estimate
is the growth forecast for 2010 for the City of Los Angeles provided by
the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) (June, 1993).
The employment increase goal doubles the SCAG 2010 forecast to maintain
the City's 1990 jobs-housing ratio. While the SCAG employment forecast represents
the prevailing trend in economic activity, the higher number is considered
essential if the City is to have sufficient job opportunities for its residents
and to maintain and improve the level of services for the City's future.
Without changes in the current State taxation and revenue distribution laws,
lesser employment growth would significantly and adversely impact the City's
fiscal stability and the quality of City services.
The population and employment estimates represent a "step" in
the City's future that can rationally be used for the planning and funding
of supporting transportation, utility infrastructure, and services. Though
the Framework Element's Land Use Diagram could accommodate higher levels
of growth, these would not be achieved in the foreseeable future as determined
by the Framework Element's economic analyses.
At the same time, the population and employment estimates do not represent
maximum or minimum levels of growth to be permitted. A system for the annual
monitoring of growth, infrastructure, and services, used as the basis to
guide future capital investments and development decisions, will also be
used as a mechanism to gauge the appropriateness of the estimates and provide
for their modification over time.
The City is not promoting this population growth. Rather, pursuant to conformity
requirements, it has developed this Element to establish policies to best
accommodate this growth when and if it should occur.
The primary objectives of the policies in the Framework Element's Land Use chapter are to support the viability of the City's residential neighborhoods and commercial districts, and, when growth occurs, to encourage sustainable growth in a number of higher-intensity commercial and mixed-use districts, centers and boulevards and industrial districts particularly in proximity to transportation corridors and transit stations.
The Framework Element establishes new land use categories whose specific locations are determined through the community plans. In general, these categories continue the residential and industrial designations that have been used in the past. New categories are recommended for selected areas of the City that, in general, have been previously designated for commercial uses. These include:
- Neighborhood District
- These are pedestrian-oriented retail focal points for surrounding residential neighborhoods (15,000 to 20,000 persons) containing a diversity of local-serving uses. Generally, these districts are at a floor area ratio of 1.5:1 or less and are characterized by buildings of one- and two-stories in height, both to be determined by the community plans.
- Community Centers
- Generally, these are the "downtowns" that serve Los Angeles' communities (25,000 to 100,000 persons). They contain a diversity of uses such as small retail and offices, entertainment, public facilities, and neighborhood oriented uses. In many areas, an emphasis is placed on the development of projects that integrate housing with the commercial uses. The Centers may contain one or more transportation hubs. Generally, Community Centers range from floor area ratios of 1.5:1 to 3.0:1. Heights are generally characterized by two- to six-story buildings, depending on the scale of the area. Floor area ratio and any specific height restrictions would be determined in the community plan.
- Regional Centers
- These serve as the focal points of regional commerce, identity, and activity for a population of 250,000 to 500,000 persons. Generally, they include corporate professional offices, concentrations of entertainment and cultural facilities, and mixed-use developments. Some contain region-serving retail facilities. Typically, Regional Centers are higher-density places whose physical form is substantially differentiated from the lower-density neighborhoods of the City. Regional Centers will fall within the range of floor area ratios from 1.5:1 to 6.0:1. This category is generally characterized by six- to twenty-story buildings or higher. Floor area ratios and any specific height restrictions would be determined by the community plan.
- Downtown Center
- Downtown Los Angeles is the principal government and business center of the region, with a worldwide market. It is the highest-density center of the City and hub of regional transportation.
- Mixed-Use Boulevards
- Boulevards connect the City's Neighborhood Districts, Community and Regional Centers, and Downtown. Mixed-use is encouraged along some of these boulevards, with the exact boundaries identified in the community plan. Generally, different types of Mixed-Use Boulevards will fall within a range of floor area ratios from 1.5:1 up to 4:1 and will be characterized by one- to two-story commercial structures up to three- to six-story mixed-use buildings between centers. Mixed-Use boulevards are served by a variety of transportation facilities.
Mixed-use can take three forms: housing above commercial, housing side-by-side with commercial, and/or alternating blocks of housing and commercial. Flexibility affords community choice in determining appropriate mixed-use to be identified in the community plan.- Industrial Districts
- Lands designated for industrial use by the community plans continue to be designated for these purposes to support economic development and jobs generation. Some limited flexibility is allowed to promote recycling when appropriate.
Establish development standards for new multi-family residential projects
to provide for liveable communities.
Revise, as necessary, community plans to facilitate the conservation of
the scale and character of existing stable residential neighborhoods.
Plan for appropriate increases in housing production in appropriate areas
as determined through the community plans and implementing actions in conformance
with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).
Define streets according to their function and user character, including
"pedestrian priority segments," "transit priority segments,"
and "vehicle priority segments."
Formulate development standards and guidelines that raise the quality of
development citywide to enhance rather than adversely impact neighborhood
character (e.g., multi-family residential).
Provide for elements that enhance neighborhood character, including the
use of street trees and "slowing" of residential streets.
Establish standards to enhance pedestrian activity in areas to be designated
by the community plans as pedestrian districts including the siting of buildings
along sidewalks, design of the ground elevation of buildings to promote
visual interest to the pedestrian, locating parking to the rear or other
areas away from the primary pedestrian area, and inclusion of streetscape
amenities.
Neighborhood Transportation
Expand neighborhood transportation services and programs to enhance neighborhood accessibility, including such systems as DASH, taxis, transit, paratransit, voucher programs, incentives for recreational trips, and "Smart Shuttles" and jitneys.
Transportation Demand Management
Participate in regionwide Transportation Demand Management programs and Transportation Control Measures to help achieve regional trip reduction and/or vehicle occupancy rate increases.
Promote the development of transportation facilities and services and educational programs that encourage transit ridership, increase vehicle occupancy, and pedestrian and bicycle access.
Provide park-and-ride shuttle services to and special events.
Encourage businesses to implement tele commuting programs, flexible work schedules, and teleconferencing programs.
Support completion of the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority baseline rail transit system by 2010 and establish priority corridors to continue transit development beyond 2010.
Increase bus service along high-demand routes and corridors.
Initiate shuttle bus programs to serve transit stations.
Continue transit restructuring studies to reduce the cost and enhance the effectiveness of transit service.
Transportation Systems Management and Parking
Establish priority corridors for Transportation System Management improvements, including Automated Traffic Surveillance and Control systems, Smart Corridors, and other strategies.
Establish a Plan for high-occupancy vehicles on City arterials.
Implement shared parking, peripheral parking, and parking-pricing strategies in high employment areas.
Highway Infrastructure
Establish priority corridors for highway capital improvements, with an emphasis on severely congested corridors.
Continue completion of the City's Highways and Freeways Plan.
Centers, Districts, and Mixed-Use Boulevards
Streamline traffic analysis and mitigation procedures and use flexible standards to facilitate development in the centers, mixed-use boulevards, and in proximity to transit stations.
Develop transit alignments and station locations that maximize transit service in centers and mixed-use boulevards.
Provide shuttles and other services that increase access to and within centers and mixed-use boulevards.
Develop new and/or redefined parking policy procedures in centers and mixed-use boulevards, including the provision of shared parking facilities.
Enhance pedestrian circulation and bicycle access to centers and mixed-use boulevards.
Preservation of Neighborhoods
Protect residential neighborhoods from the intrusion of additional traffic generated by new regional or local development.
Movement of Goods and Services
Support the development of the Alameda Corridor and other transportation projects that serve industrial and commercial uses.
Complete the LAX Master Plan and support the continued growth of the Port of Los Angeles.
Establish ground access plans that facilitate the future growth of Van Nuys Airport, Palmdale Regional Airport, and Ontario International Airport.
Continue to expand the role of Union Station as the major regional hub for Amtrak, Metrolink, Metrorail, and, in the future, high-speed rail service.
Financing of Transportation Programs
Seek adequate funding for Transportation improvements and programs, including State and Federal and new sources (e.g., congestion pricing, user fees, assessment districts, private sector financing/ partnerships, bond measures, and other).
Encourage the participation of small business enterprises in implementing new transportation projects.
Street Maintenance
Identify streets and sidewalks requiring remedial repair and implement improvements to prolong their useful life.
1. Wastewater
2. Stormwater
3. Water
4. Solid Waste
5. Police
6. Fire
7. Libraries
8. Parks
9. Power
10. Schools
11. Telecommunications
12. Street Lighting
13. Urban Forest
For each of the public services and infrastructure systems, four basic
policies are defined by the Framework Element:
Monitor levels of demand and the abilities of the service/infrastructure
system to support demands. Use these demands to forecast future needs and
improvements.
Maintain an adequate system/service to support the needs of population and
employment. This encompasses the upgrade and replacement of existing facilities
as they deteriorate as well as the expansion of facilities/services to accommodate
growth.
Implement techniques that reduce demands on utility infrastructure or services,
where appropriate. Generally, these encompass a variety of conservation
programs (e.g., reduced liquid and solid wastes and energy use, increased
site permeability, watershed management, telecommunications, and others).
Establish procedures for the maintenance or restoration of service after
an emergency, including earthquakes.
Major changes have begun to occur in the field of information technology.
While addressed in the Framework Element, it is important for the City to
account for how these advances in communication technology will affect its
planning efforts.