The Hollywood Community Plan sets out written policies to guide future commercial and residential development in the “mosaic of districts” that comprises Hollywood. There are destinations offering entertainment along Hollywood Boulevard, a Media District below Santa Monica Boulevard, and a cluster of medical centers along Sunset Boulevard. Los Feliz is among the many “distinctive residential neighborhoods” within this amalgam, which is why this plan has generated much thoughtful attention from the stakeholders and community activists of the Greater Griffith Park Neighborhood Council. The council’s Planning, Zoning & Historic Preservation Committee discussed the plan – which is rapidly approaching finalization – most recently at its July 7 meeting.
The Hollywood Community Plan (the current draft is dated July 2010 – PDF) begins by noting that Hollywood has made a “comeback” in recent years and attributing this turnaround to “the successful collaboration of community stakeholders,” such as, the Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA), business groups, and neighborhood councils.
The plan looks toward “a sustainable, livable future,” including what the emerging Hollywood will look like, how it will function, and what changes it might reveal. At the heart of the plan – envisaged as a unique “foundation for change” embraced by community stakeholders, elected office holders, and city departments – is a Vision Statement.
A Vision for Hollywood in 2030
The Hollywood Community Plan envisions a compact city that is growing vertically, mixing residential, commercial and industrial uses in new and interesting ways. With core industries in entertainment, tourism and health care, this is a Hollywood which supports a strong local and regional economy. A rich, multimodal transit system, an inviting walking environment, and mixed-use housing along transit corridors enable many Hollywood residents to reduce their use of cars.
The balanced growth of commercial and residential uses provides a jobs-housing balance, enabling an increasing number of residents and visitors to live, work, play and shop in Hollywood. Implementation of mixed-income housing incentives creates opportunities for people who work in Hollywood to find affordable housing nearby.
A successful growth plan must be a sustainable plan. Therefore, the Hollywood Community Plan promotes building, landscape, transportation and land use policies that take the long view towards protecting the environment. Recognizing the value of Hollywood’s impressive historic architecture and cultural resources, the Community Plan seeks to protect these assets, as well.
The vision embraces a search for innovative solutions to the lack of parking and of open spaces, preservation of single- and multi-family neighborhoods, and transitions between these neighborhoods, on the one hand, and high-density development, on the other.
“A wide range of planning topics – including land use and housing, parks and open space, urban design, mobility, arts and culture, and history – are addressed in the Plan, encompassing the full spectrum of issues related to the physical development of the community.”
The purposes of the plan include: to outline a vision; offer strategies and action steps to reach the vision; provide a basis for assessing proposals; direct city departments, public agencies, and private developers to work within the vision; and to guide detailed planning efforts.
The Hollywood Community Plan provides – for residents and neighborhood councils, businesses and developers, public officials and public agencies – a common framework to work within. The plan serves as a policy handbook – or set of rules – to shape expectations, discussion, and development.
As a neighborhood stakeholder (with no city planning background), I found the plan fascinating. I will offer a number of additional posts on the Hollywood Community Plan and on the discussions and decisions made by the Greater Griffith Park Neighborhood Council as the plan advances toward completion.
(Photograph of the W Hotel on Hollywood Boulevard.)
