Comments on update of the Hollywood Community Plan

My views are that the most immediate planning issue in Los Angeles is the inadequacy of the DEIR for the update of the Hollywoood Community plan since its comment period closes on June 3, 2011.

1) The plan's policy language is irrelevant. No decision makers ever look at it in making budget or land use decisions.

2) The focus should be opposition to sections of the DEIR which sanction broad increases in density through general plan amendments and zone changes because:

-- They will become a template for dramatic increases in permitted densities in the remaining 34 community plans.

-- There is no planning rationale for this up-planning and up-zoning based on the "growth neutrality" intent of the Genera Plan Framework Element. The city, according to the Framework, has enormous untapped potential for population and housing expansion based on established plan designations and zones.

-- In fact, in the Hollywood Community Plan's implementation program up-zoning and up-planning is proposed to encourage growth, an approach which turn LA's growth neutral General Plan on its head.

-- As far as we know, the city's infrastructure, which has not been monitored in over 11 years, cannot handle existing user demand, much less the demands of a larger population which result from up-planning and up-zoning. Without demonstrated unused infrastructure capacity, there should be no increases in permitted density.

-- The DEIR uses year 2000 census data, even though current 2010 census is available.

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