Draft General Plan Available for Public Review

NEWS RELEASE

COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES 

                                             Contact:  Judy Hammond, Director of Public Affairs, (213) 974-1363

        Brian Lew, Assistant Director, (213) 974-1652  

 

                                                                          Aug. 13, 2008

 

Contact:            Department of Regional Planning, (213) 974-6417

Mark Herwick, AICP, Section Head, General Plan Development Section

                        Gunnar Hand, General Plan Development Section

                        Travis Seawards, General Plan Development Section

                        (The offices of the Department of Regional Planning are closed on Fridays.)

 

 

Los Angeles County Department of Regional Planning Draft General Plan Available for Public Review

 

 

 

The Los Angeles County Department of Regional Planning is seeking public comment on its newly released Draft General Plan, which will serve as the guide for the growth and development of unincorporated areas in the County. The document, entitled Planning Tomorrow’s Great Places, is the first major update to the General Plan in more than 25 years.

 

With a presentation from William Fulton, author and Southern California urban planner, the plan will be discussed at the Los Angeles County Regional Planning Commission on Sept. 3 at 9 a.m. The commission will be briefed on the schedule for adoption of the plan, targeted for late 2009.

 

The commission meets in downtown Los Angeles at 320 West Temple St., Room 150.

 

The General Plan is designed to guide the long-term physical development and conservation of the County’s land and environment through a framework of goals, policies, and implementation programs. Planning Tomorrow’s Great Places provides the County with a progressive “vision” for land use decisions and development that will allow County officials to conserve and protect the physical and natural amenities that make Los Angeles County a desirable place to live and work.

 

The Draft General Plan is the culmination of a comprehensive development process that has incorporated community outreach, public participation, field work, and policy analysis. The General Plan is composed of mandatory elements including land use, mobility, conservation and open space, noise, and safety, and three optional elements, air resources, public services and facilities, and economic development.

 

The updated General Plan comes at an opportune time, as the landscape for planning and development activities in the County are undergoing profound changes. Extreme environmental conditions, such as water shortages and wildfires, require that new development be environmentally sustainable, and that sprawling growth patterns be replaced with efficient corridor planning and infill development.

 

As directed by public input, the Draft General Plan focuses on environmental stewardship, smart growth development, green building, multi-modal mobility planning, public safety, infrastructure efficiencies, and economic reinvestment in existing communities. Planning Tomorrow’s Great Places, with a foreword written by Fulton, provides the County with a comprehensive, long-range vision for how to accomplish these goals.

 

Preparation of the environmental impact report for the Draft General Plan is underway. County residents will have further opportunity to review and comment on the plan when it is presented to the Regional Planning Commission, along with the draft environmental impact report, for public hearings in 2009.

 

For more information on the Draft General Plan, call the Los Angeles County Department of Regional Planning General Plan Development Section at (213) 974-6417 or e-mail generalplan@planning.lacounty.gov . The plan may be viewed online at http://planning.lacounty.gov/generalplan .

 

 

 

 

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