The Hoof Beat, May 2007

City Planning Gets Serious
By Mary Benson

Many of you were at the City of Los Angeles CPC hearing. I have already been asked about the 14 points.

After 40 years of the words "City Planning" being an oxymoron, The Los Angeles City Planning Commission and new Director of Planning Gail Goldberg put their new 14 Points to the test at a General Plan Amendment hearing to match density and zoning to preserve open acreage in our wild land areas.

Jane Usher, President of the Commission made it clear that the City Planning was going to participate in Real Planning, and that the applicants and developers seeking major zoning changes were no longer going to have a department which simply facilitated their plans. Land speculators basing property purchase prices that the zoning can be changed may need to reevaluate project sites closer to mass transit and away from hillsides.

These 14 points are the inspiration for a new day in Los Angeles. This is all a result of the Mayor's hiring Gail Goldberg last year.