Los Angeles County must preserve an adequate supply of jobs-creating land so that current residents and their children will have a place to work and earn a decent living. The population density in the County is among the highest in the nation, placing a premium on the efficient use of the limited supply of land, particularly in urban areas. Smart land use provides adequate space for both employment uses and housing through strategies such as by-right development, infill development, redevelopment, and reuse of obsolete industrial land. It is important to think of industrial land as a scarce commodity that fuels our economy, by providing places that jobs can be created. This is Goal #4 of the L.A. County Strategic Plan for Economic Development.
Key Points to Remember:
- To ensure the economic competitiveness of Los Angeles County today and going forward, it is critical that we are able to meet the land use needs of our increasingly more innovative, knowledge-based and technology-driven 21st Century economy.
- Industrial facilities today look and “feel” much different than they used to–they are not simply the smoke stacks of yesteryear but rather many are cleaner (with little to no pollutants) and have uses that could be housed in commercially zoned land.
- We need to ensure that we preserve the employment land that we have today (and not allow it to be given away for population-accommodating uses, such as residential and retail), but we also need to “think outside the box” when it comes to our employment land policies and encourage more efforts to accommodate industrial and other types of employment lands in areas that are traditionally seen as commercial only or even abutting residential, in many cases.
Data & Analytics:
- ICIC’s Industrial Strategy Research
- ICIC: “The Return of Industry to America’s Cities”
- Los Angeles’ Industrial Land: Sustaining a Dynamic City Economy
Additional Resources:
- Urban Land Institute (ULI) LA
- Initiative for a Competitive Inner City
- “Upended and Reinvented”
- “LA Will Finally Get a Major Overhaul of Its 1946 Zoning Code”
- “Q&A with Los Angeles County Department of Regional Planning”
LAEDC Efforts:
- The Cornfield Arroyo Seco Specific Plan: Commentary on the building and site design criteria as they apply to industrial facility design – October 2012
- LAEDC Letter Regarding the Cornfield Arroyo Seco Specific Plan – October 2012
- LAEDC Letter regarding the City of Los Angeles Comprehensive Zoning Code Update – April 2012
- LAEDC Press Statement on Hollywood Community Plan – December 2011
What’s Next?:
- The CASP is awaiting review by the City of Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office before going to the City Council.
Legislative Updates:
| CASP | The latest iteration of the CASP has allowed for industrial facilities to be located in and around a transit-oriented community. | Passed City’s Planning Committee on 1/29/2013 – awaiting review by City Attorney |