Tag Archives: planning department

Controller Zine? Doesn’t the City’s Chief Accountant/Auditor Need to Pass 2nd Grade Arithmetic and Count to 10?

Posted on September 11, 2012 by

It should come as no surprise to anyone who has ever paid any attention to the mad rush to approve the massive investment of public resources and land in a football stadium and white elephant Convention Center that the process … Continue reading →

Posted in 2013 Election, 2013 LA Elections, City Hall, Community Activists, Development/CRA, Hot Topics, Los Angeles, NFL Stadium | Tagged , , , , | 9 Comments

A Guide to Understanding the Baffling Changes to LA’s Planning Rules

Posted on December 18, 2010 by

Editor’s Note: Radical changes are being made to LA’s planning rules by First Deputy Mayor Austin Beutner — changes intended to simplify and expedite approval of new developments as he explained this week in an LA Business Journal article. Already, … Continue reading →

Posted in City Hall, Los Angeles | Tagged , , , , , | 22 Comments

“BUILD IT IN BRENTWOOD” — Let’s See City Hall Try To Do That

Posted on October 12, 2010 by

What better symbol of LA’s decay could there be than the city’s massive program of spraying insecticide down manhole covers because of the cockroach infestation in the sewers. What better evidence of the political system’s bankruptcy could there be than … Continue reading →

Posted in City Hall, Community Activists, Development/CRA, Hot Topics | Tagged , , , , , | 17 Comments

Trust in God — Not the Planning Department: Michael LoGrande’s First Big Test

Posted on August 13, 2010 by

A city’s General Plan lays out the broad guidelines for all new developments that are then refined through community plans that provide detailed rules block by block so that residents and developers know exactly what is allowed and what isn’t. … Continue reading →

Posted in City Hall, Community Activists, Hot Topics, Los Angeles | Tagged , , , , , , | 56 Comments

Sense and Nonsense: The Planning Appeals Debate

Posted on October 21, 2009 by

There’s something about Greig Smith that never ceases to amaze me and makes me worry that his chief of staff Mitch Englander will be more of the same when he succeeds him in 18 months, much as Smith was more … Continue reading →

Posted in City Hall, Hot Topics, Los Angeles | Tagged , , , , , , , | 25 Comments

Three Years, Five Months, 68 Days … and Now 24 Hours More To Figure Out Planning Appeal Fees

Posted on October 20, 2009 by

I thought I’d seen just about everything from this City Council but my eyes were opened by Tuesday’s debate over a plan to raise fees for homeowners and neighborhood and community groups to appeal Planning and Building Safety decisions by … Continue reading →

Posted in City Hall, Hot Topics, Los Angeles | Tagged , , , , , , , | 28 Comments

Mechanics of Power: Squeeze Plays and Double Talk

Posted on October 19, 2009 by

For years, the policies of City Hall have chased away middle class jobs and residents to the suburbs and neighboring states. Home ownership has fallen from more than 60 percent to barely 40 percent. The living wage  has replaced the … Continue reading →

Posted in City Hall, Hot Topics, Los Angeles | Tagged , , , , , , | 13 Comments