Around the Corner 

LA City Council's LA Recovery Committee meets today to discuss staffing and resources for wildfire rebuilds.

Following Mayor Bass’s March 21 Emergency Executive Order, the Resilient Rebuild Permitting Fast Track aims to speed up reconstruction of fire-resistant homes:

• Within 60 days, LADBS will propose a streamlined permitting process for homeowners rebuilding with all-electric systems.

• Within 30 days, LADWP will review existing incentives and suggest new ones for all-electric upgrades in homes and businesses.

The Week Ahead

March 24 | Special Meeting - Ad Hoc Committee for LA Recovery

• Chief Legislative Analyst report relative to staffing and resources for the January 2025 Wildfires; and requesting an updated Recovery Annex document tailored to the January 2025 Wildfire emergency event that clarifies the roles and responsibilities of each City department and bureau; and related matter. Report.

• City Administrative Officer report relative to the temporary re-employment of retired employees to aid in the City's wildfire recovery and rebuilding effort. Report.

• Chief Legislative Analyst report relative to the Pacific Palisades Long-term Recovery Plan. Report.

• City Administrative Officer report, Community Investment for Families Department report and Motion (Hernandez, Price - Raman) relative to a guaranteed income program or emergency cash assistance program for Angelenos economically affected by the January 2025 wildfires. Report.

• Motion (Rodriguez – Hernandez) relative to establishing roles and protocols as it relates to providing land surveys of the properties affected by the January 2025 Windstorm and Wildfire events

• Motion (Rodriguez – Blumenfield) relative to providing recommendations for adopting an incentive program for residential and commercial property owners that voluntarily implement construction best practices for fire resiliency beyond what is currently required in the City’s Building Code.

March 25 | LA Planning and Land Use Mgmt Committee

• 21101 W. Ventura Blvd, CPC-2022-8609-ZC-HD-SPE-SPP-CU-SPR: Appeal filed by the West Valley Alliance for Optimal Living on approval of zoning change and height district designation for from C4-1LD and P-1LD to (T)C2-2. Project includes two components: 1. Six-story, 112,204-square-foot self-storage facility, which exceeds the allowable floor area and height limits under the Ventura/Cahuenga Boulevard Corridor Specific Plan; and 2. Minor improvements to the existing hotel, including the relocation of its swimming pool and a reduction in required parking from 134 to 95 spaces.

• 200 W 2nd St, CPC-2023-372-GPAJ-VZCJ-HD-SP-CPIOA-HCA: One San Pedro Project Specific Plan creation with General Plan Amendments to the San Pedro Community Plan to change the land use designation from Low Medium II Residential to Community Commercial for a portion of the project site; to add the OSP Zone as a corresponding zone to the Community Commercial land use designation, and to the Transportation Element of the General Plan (Mobility Plan 2035). The One San Pedro Specific Plan allows for the phased redevelopment of the existing Rancho San Pedro public housing development, which occupies nine city blocks encompassing 19.5 acres), the Specific Plan would establish standards to regulate land use, development, and design and would permit a maximum of 1,553 dwelling units, including restricted affordable units, and 130,000 sf of commercial space

• 8217 North Winnetka Ave, CPC-2023-4274-DB-PHP-VHCA-1A: City Attorney report relative to a court-issued Writ of Mandate and court judgement commanding the City Council to set aside, vacate, and annul the City Council’s October 13, 2023 action adopting the Planning and Land Use Management Committee’s report denying the appeal filed by 8217 Winnetka LLC & Bedrock Properties Group, LLC and sustaining the determination of incompleteness by the Department of City Planning under the Permit Streamlining Act

• Motion (Raman - Yaroslavsky - Blumenfield) instructing the Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety, in consultation with the Los Angeles Fire Department and the Department of City Planning, and with requested input from Livable Cities Initiative and the American Institute of Architects Los Angeles, to present within 90 days modifications to the City’s Building Code to allow for single-exit, single-stairway, multifamily unit residential buildings up to six stories; and related matters.

March 25 | Pasadena Design Commission

• 130-140 N. Fair Oaks Ave, DHP2023-00172: Construction of a new mixed-use building with ground-floor commercial space, 38 residential units and at-grade and podium parking. Staff Recommendations:

  • 1. Find that the project was subject to environmental review per the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), and on January 23, 2018, the Design Commission adopted a Categorical Exemption for Concept Design Review for the same project, and that there are no changed circumstances or new information which would require further environmental review; and

  • 2. Approve the application for Consolidated Design Review subject to conditions to be reviewed and approved by staff prior to issuance of a building permit.

• 2771 E. Foothill Blvd, DHP2024-00015: Demolition of two buildings and construction of a new three-to-four-story, 34,357 sf, mixed-use project consisting of 4,318 sf of ground floor commercial and 20 residential units with at-grade and subterranean parking. Staff Recommendation:

  • 1. Find that the application for Consolidated Design Review is exempt from environmental review pursuant to the guidelines of the California Environmental Quality Act (Public Resources Code §21080(b)(9); Administrative Code, Title 14, Chapter 3, §15332, Class 32, Infill Development Projects, and that there are no features that distinguish this project from others in the exempt class; therefore, there are no unusual circumstances; and

  • 2. Approve the application for Concept Design Review subject to conditions to be further reviewed by the Design Commission during Final Design Review.

March 27 | LA City Planning Commission

• 1770–1772 South Sawtelle Blvd, CPC-2024-6631-DB-WDI-VHCA: Construction of a 67 foot high, six-story, 32 unit mixed-use development (4 VLI and 2 MLI), with 1,058 sf of commercial space and two subterranean parking levels including 26 parking spaces. The Project includes a request for up to a 3.66:1 FAR for a total of 29,642 sf.

• 19923 West Ventura Blvd, CPC-2024-4893-DB-SPPC-HCA: New 46,692-sf mixed-use development comprising 54 units (6 VLI). The building will be six stories (85 feet and five inches high), containing 45,464 sf of residential and 1,228 sf of commercial floor area with a FAR of 4.00:1.

• 7500 North Chaminade Ave, 23233 Saticoy St , VTT-84101-1A: Merger and re-subdivision of the Project Site into two ground lots: one for the Main Campus (Lot 1) and one for the North Campus (Lot 2), to facilitate the expansion and modernization of an existing high school campus. The Vesting Tentative Tract Map initially included a request for an airspace lot (Lot 3) for the vacation of a portion of the public right-of-way along Saticoy Street to allow for the construction of a pedestrian bridge connecting the two campuses. However, the airspace lot request was denied, and the pedestrian bridge will instead require authorization under a Revocable Permit issued by the Bureau of Engineering.

Week in Review 

Highlighted Case Applications

Los Angeles

• 7262 Mulholland Dr, AA-2025-1696-PMEX: Lot Line Adjustment to adjust the property line between two parcels resulting in proposed Parcel 1 having 9,941.50 sf and Parcel 2 having 9,088.09 sf

• 446 Crane Blvd, DIR-2025-1694-SPPC-HCA: Addition of 195 sf to ground floor and lower floor to the existing SFD and an addition of an 480 sf attached ADU on second story to the existing SFD in Northeast LA

• 238 S Hudson Ave, ADM-2025-1708-CWC: Pursuant to LAMC 13B.8.4 Conforming Work on a Contributing Feature in the Hancock Park HPOZ for the sidewalk, driveway and driveway apron repair

• 9725 Laurel Canyon Blvd, ZA-2025-1553-CUB: CUP to allow the sale of full-line of alcoholic beverages for off-site consumption in conjunction with an existing target store

Highlighted Completions

Did you know we now have a completed date filter for LA in ATC? You can also check a project's status using the new status filter. For example, many of the cases below have been approved but have a status of “In appeal period.”

Los Angeles

• 3637 Cahuenga Blvd W, ZA-2024-3826-ZV: Approved with conditions to convert an existing 1-story veterinary clinic (6,800 sf) to veterinary hospital with 24 hour operation and recuperative overnight services for pet patients

• 10345 Mcbroom St, AA-2021-403-PMLA: Approved with conditions subdivision of a 71,411 sf lot into two lots for the construction of a new SFD

• 10181 La Canada Way, DIR-2024-6033-SPPC-HCA: Approved with conditions an addition of a 1205 sf living space to an SFD, a 721 attached garage, a 784 sf accessory living quarters, a 656 sf accessory dwelling unit, a 1240 sf basement and a 498 sf attached garage

• 3700 Wilshire Blvd, VTT-74191: Terminated construction of a 36-story mixed-use building with 506 dwelling units and 62,035 sf of commercial uses with a total floor area of 531,470 sf (adaptive reuse application)