ONE BIG THING: THE HOLLYWOOD COMMUNITY PLAN
What is the Hollywood Community Plan?
The Hollywood Community Plan helps determine how the city approaches growth in Hollywood and the surrounding areas.
That means defining policies about:
- The process of building housing
- What protections renters have
- Zoning policies – what type of housing we’re allowed to build, and where we can build it.
- Sustainability
- And more
Why it matters
The Hollywood Community Plan hasn’t been updated since 1988, 35 years ago.
So much has changed in Hollywood since 1988, so it’s absolutely critical that we update our policies around housing, zoning, and renter protections so that we aren’t stuck in the past.
A problem with the proposed plan
East Hollywood, a predominantly working class community of color, wasn't included at all in the current plan. That's why we want to expand tenant protections, anti-displacement measures, and affordable housing to East Hollywood and the communities east of the 101. Because people can pay lip service to equity all they want. But this is how we achieve it.
What are we doing now?
Along with Councilmembers Raman and Yaroslavsky, we successfully added the following amendments to the plan as it was being considered by the Planning Committee:
- Additional tenant protections, including relocation assistance for renters forced out of their homes and a provision requiring no net loss of affordable housing units for new developments.
- The lifespan of affordable housing extended from 55 years to 99 years – the legal maximum.
- Additional affordability requirements in some areas to promote equity and consistency across the plan’s jurisdiction.
What comes next?
In addition to incorporating East Hollywood into the plan, we made it clear that our support for approving it is contingent on the ability to make the following changes after its adoption:
- Increased affordable housing and density.
- Add more affordable housing requirements for new developments.
- Rezone to build housing more easily on public land.
- Add adaptive reuse provisions so we can convert underutilized office and commercial buildings into housing.
- Anti-displacement measures
- Expand anti-displacement provisions to all areas of the plan instead of only certain neighborhoods.
- Define and promote social housing models.
- Prevent building demolitions before replacement projects are approved.
- Sustainability and safety
- Reduce the car-centric uses in the plan.
- Reform parking requirements.
- Remove street-widening requirements.
- Study earthquake resilience to improve retrofitting.
- Additional sustainability measures, including an environmental justice program.
Check out our infographics and video explaining the plan!
Two More Quick Hits!
Check out our weekly recap video on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook!
1. Solidarity with Armenians in Artsakh on Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day
This past Monday on Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day, our entire office joined community leaders in Little Armenia to remember the 1.5 million Armenians killed during the genocide, and to show solidarity with the 120,000 Armenians in Artsakh, including 30,000 children and 20,000 elderly, continue to live under a blockade that has gone on for over four months now.
We must make it clear that these inhumane actions and ethnic cleansing campaigns have no place in our world.
2. Join us Monday at 4pm for the May Day March!
May Day is coming up on Monday, May 1st, and we want as many folks as possible to join us in this year's march at Broadway & Olympic in DTLA to stand up for:
✊🏽 The Right to Unionize
✊🏽 The Right to Strike
✊🏽 The Right to Housing
✊🏽 The Right to Citizenship
CD13 In The News
LA DAILY NEWS – LA City Council seeks ‘a more inclusive, sustainable Hollywood’ in community plan – “The uneven growth and increasing inequality across Hollywood in the 35 years since the last Hollywood Community Plan update has shown the desperate need for more equitable density,” Soto-Martínez said. “We have the opportunity here to set the roadmap for a more inclusive, sustainable Hollywood with the affordable housing that we need.”
LAIST – Plans Move Forward To Allow 135K New Housing Units In Downtown LA And Hollywood – The neighborhood’s existing community plan has not been successfully updated since 1988. Committee chair Marqueece Harris-Dawson joked, “I was watching Batman at Grauman’s theater, the one with Jack Nicholson, when this plan was passed.”
LA SENTINEL – L.A. City Reparations Commission Hosts First In-Person Event – Created by the city in 2021, the Commission will engage public input and academic and participatory research to develop a future reparations program for a group of Black Angelenos.
LARCHMONT BUZZ – Larchmont Village Neighborhood Spring Block Party This Saturday – Residents of Larchmont Village are planning a neighborhood block party this Saturday from noon to 5 p.m. on Bronson Avenue.
One Last Thing
DWP Electrical Pole Maintenance
In 2021, two people were tragically killed by a downed power line in Los Angeles. In order to ensure this doesn’t happen again, LADWP has identified 795 poles across the city that are in need of repair over the next 3-4 weeks. This week, DWP dropped leaflets and door hangers at all affected properties notifying of planned maintenance coming soon.
LADWP identified just 24 poles in CD13 that are in need of repair, and a map of those poles is below. If you live, work or travel in any of these areas, beware of ongoing maintenance, and remember to never touch a downed or dangling wire. Instead, call 911 if you see one so the situation can be handled safely.
