Subject: Executive Summary
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Date: Sat, 22 Aug 2009 23:14:40 -0700

Executive Summary

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.

State Requirements
California State law (Government Code Section
65300) requires that each city prepare and adopt a comprehensive, long-term
general plan for its future development. This Element must contain seven
elements, including land use, circulation, housing, conservation, open space,
noise and safety. In addition to these, State law permits cities to include
optional elements in their general plans, thereby providing local governments
with the flexibility to address the specific needs and unique character of their
jurisdictions.

In fulfillment of the State's requirements, the City's
general plan contains citywide elements for all topics except
Land Use for which community plans establish policy and standards for each of
the 35 geographic areas. As optional elements, the City has adopted Air Quality
and Service Systems Elements.

California State law requires that the
day-to-day decisions of a city follow logically from and be consistent with the
general plan. More specifically, Government Code Sections 65860, 66473.5 and
656474 require that zoning ordinances and subdivision and parcel map approvals
be consistent with the general plan.

Scope of the General Plan Framework Element
The General Plan
Framework Element defines citywide policies that influence most of the City's
General Plan Elements. It includes policies for:

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.

Principal Framework Element Policies

Land
Use

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.

Housing
The
Framework Element elaborates on the City's adopted Housing Element to ensure the
provision of housing for the City's existing and future residents. Among the key
policies are the following:

Provide sufficient lands for the development
of an adequate supply of housing units. The Framework Element proposes the
expansion of the City's capacity for housing units by the provision of bonus
densities for the integration of housing with commercial uses in districts,
centers, and boulevards.

Provide incentives for:

The scattering of affordable units throughout the City.

Development of family-size units in multi-family developments.

Expedited permit processing for affordable units.

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).

Urban Form
and Neighborhood Design
The Urban Form and Neighborhood Design
Chapter defines "urban form" as (a) the "general pattern of building height and
development intensity" and (b) the "structural elements" that define the City
physically, such as natural features, transportation corridors (including the
planned fixed rail transit system), open space, public facilities, as well as
activity centers and focal elements. The chapter describes options to improve
community and neighborhood liveability.

Establish local development
standards through community plan amendments.

Visually differentiate the
districts, centers, and boulevards that comprise Los Angeles.

Neighborhood Districts: low-rise and pedestrian-oriented.

Community Centers: mid-rise; largely pedestrian-oriented.

Regional Centers: high-rise; some containing clusters of buildings on
sidewalks and pedestrian areas and others with freestanding buildings.

Mixed-Use Boulevards: comparable to the Neighborhood Districts and
Community Centers.

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.

Open Space
and Conservation
The Framework Element's open space and
conservation objectives are oriented around the conservation of significant
resources, provision of outdoor recreational opportunities, minimization of
public risks from environmental hazards, and use of open space to enhance
community and neighborhood character. Key policies include the
following:

Establish a linear open space and greenway system that
connects the City's regional open spaces (mountains, coastline, and parks) and
is linked to communities and neighborhoods. This may consist of improvements
along the Los Angeles River, other drainages, transit corridors, and utility
corridors, where appropriate. Bikeways, hiking trails, parks, and passive open
space are among the improvements that may be considered.

Consider open
space as an integral ingredient of neighborhood character.

Encourage
sustainable urban forest management programs to conserve and manage open space
and identify new opportunities for demand side management of the urban
watershed.

Consider appropriate methods to protect significant remaining
major open spaces, including hillsides and undeveloped areas.

Consider
urban forms of open space, such as small parks, pedestrian districts, community
plazas, and similar elements.

Promote the joint use of open space with
public facilities (schools, transit, and other).

Open spaces that
constitute a major risk to life and property should be preserved or regulated
(e.g., steep terrain, landslide areas, and flood plains).

Develop a
sustainable systems approach to public infrastructure planning, construction,
and management that identifies opportunities to reduce long-term cost to
taxpayers of such activity.

Economic
Development
The Framework Element's economic development policies
are designed to facilitate job growth by emphasizing that Los Angeles plays a
proactive role in the retention and attraction of businesses in order to have a
sufficient job base to maintain and enhance the quality of life. Key policies
include the following:

Reorganize local government to coordinate
economic development and business support services functions.

Establish a
comprehensive program for business retention and attraction, including the
marketing of the City to emerging industries.

Develop an infrastructure
investment strategy to support population and employment growth
areas.

Identify Federal and State mandates that may constrain business
activity in Los Angeles, and address these through appropriate lobbying
efforts.

Provide sufficient land to support economic development
activities.

Concentrate commercial and office development in centers,
corridors, and in proximity to transit stations.

Retain current
industrial land use classifications to provide adequate quantities of land for
emerging industrial sectors, except where such lands are unsuitable for such
purposes.

Broaden the definition of industrial uses through the active
investigation of their changing nature as effected by small company formation
and the introduction of information age technology.

Establish incentives
for industrial development in areas adjacent to the Port of Los Angeles, the
rail corridor bisecting the San Fernando Valley, and the South Central/Southeast
industrial area.

Facilitate the operations of the Port of Los Angeles
and the Los Angeles International Airport as major drivers of the local and
regional economy, supporting planned expansion and modernization.

Retain
the City's existing employment base through an outreach program to existing
businesses and an ongoing assessment of their specific land use
requirements.

Improve the movement of goods and workers to industrial
areas.

Develop and maintain streamlined approval processes and reduce
uncertainty for the developers and the community.

Maintain development
fee structures that do not unreasonably burden economic development
activities.

Promote the re-use and recycling of deteriorated commercial
and industrial districts.

Expand job training programs to adequately
address the skill requirements of emerging industries.

Support efforts to
provide all residents with reasonable access to transit infrastructure,
employment, and job training opportunities.

Support efforts to develop
industry and job markets in the area of resource conservation and demand side
management.

Transportation
The
primary goals of the Transportation Chapter are to provide adequate
accessibility to commerce, to work opportunities, and to essential services, and
to maintain acceptable levels of mobility of all those who live, work, travel,
or move goods in Los Angeles. Attainment of this goal necessitates a
comprehensive program of physical infrastructure improvements, traffic systems
management techniques, and behavioral changes that reduce vehicle trips. These
are linked to an integrated hierarchy of movement modes that encompasses the
pedestrian, bicycle, automobile, local shuttle, bus, and rail transit. Key
policies include the following:

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.

Infrastructure
and Public Services
The goals, objectives, and policies found
within this chapter address the following systems and services:

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.

Implementation
Programs
A diversity of programs are specified to implement the
General Plan Framework Element's policies. Their timing is contingent on the
availability of adequate funding. Key programs include the
following:

Establish a program to monitor growth and public service and
infrastructure demands and capacities.

Prepare and submit to the City
Council an Annual Report on Growth and Infrastructure, based on information
compiled by the monitoring program.

Amend the community plans and the
zoning ordinance (Municipal Code), guided by the Framework Element's policies
and standards.

Establish development standards to create a higher
quality of development.

Formulate Transportation Improvement and
Mitigation Plans for community plan areas and geographic groupings of districts
centers and mixed-use boulevards.

Formulate master and financing plans
for public services and infrastructure that are correlated with forecast
population and employment growth.

Maintain and implement Capital
Improvement Programs that consider, as a priority, the improvements as an
incentive for development in industrial and targeted growth areas.

Establish and implement a comprehensive economic development strategy
and a proactive business attraction and retention program.

Coordinate
actions to mitigate regional transportation and air quality impacts with
adjacent cities and regional agencies (SCAG, SCAQMD, and
other).

Establish procedures for City agencies to coordinate the
provision of services and infrastructure to support growth.

Establish
master plans for infrastructure and public services to upgrade existing
deficiencies and meet the needs of future growth.

Initiate procedures to
streamline and provide certainty for the development review process, emphasizing
the facilitation of projects that are consistent with the objectives and
policies of the General Plan Framework Element, and the implementation of
community plans and zoning regulations.

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