<\/p>\n
Instead the Mayor\u2019s Office prepared its Climate Action Plan in isolation, without any public hearings or a City Council adoption vote. While Mayor Bass\u2019s document is useful, it will be short-lived, without any implementation budget or enforcement authority.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The General Plan\u2019s existing documents (i.e., Elements) nevertheless address some climate issues in Los Angeles, although not as comprehensively as the Mayor\u2019s new Climate Action Plan.\u00a0 For example, the City\u2019s General Plan contains a Health Element with a chapter (pages 165 to 174) entitled . . . Environmental Justice Requirements and the Existing City of Los Angeles Plan<\/a>.\u00a0 This section outlines the contents of an expanded Health Element, but there is no budget allocation for this.\u00a0 To date there is only a 43 page Preliminary Draft Environmental document<\/a>.\u00a0 Prepared in 2025 and entitled Health and Environment Justice Element, funds were withheld to proceed to the City Council adoption process. \u00a0This means the City of Los Angeles only has fragmented policies scattered throughout the 12 separate City Council-adopted documents in LA\u2019s General Plan.\u00a0 These include 35 separate Community Plans that together form LA\u2019s Land Use Element.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n Furthermore, the planning Elements that together form LA\u2019s General Plan are, for the most part, old.\u00a0 They should be updated to address Los Angeles in the uncertain years ahead.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n \u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Framework Element, adopted in1995 and re-adopted in 2001.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n \u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Safety Element*, adopted in 1996.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n \u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Mobility Plan 2035 Element*, adopted in 2015.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n \u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Conservation Element*, adopted in 2001.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n \u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Air Quality Element*, adopted in 1992.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n \u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Noise Element*, adopted in 1999.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n \u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Infrastructure Systems Element, adopted in 1971.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n \u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Public Facilities Element, adopted 1969.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n \u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Open Space Element*, adopted in 1973<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n \u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Land Use Element*, adopted as 35 Community Plans and Two District Plans<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n *Mandatory General Plan Element.\u00a0 While The State of California also requires counties and cities to adopt an Environmental Justice Element<\/a>, LA has no known work schedule to do this. \u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n Clearly, most of the City of LA\u2019s General Plan Elements are old.\u00a0 They should be updated to remain relevant.\u00a0 After all, Los Angeles has gone through tremendous changes in recent decades \u2013 such as the decline of the downtown — and the City\u2019s official General Plan elements should be address today\u2019s Los Angeles, not a city that existed decades ago, when most General Plan Elements were prepared and adopted.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n While it might be useful to have the Mayor\u2019s Office prepare a Climate Action Plan for Los Angeles, her office should take a long-term perspective, so the new mayoral Plan can be adopted as a General Plan Element. \u00a0This would allow the Mayor\u2019s Climate Action Plan to become part of the City\u2019s permanent General Plan, not a document quickly filed away in dusty archives when Mayor Bass leaves office. \u00a0If this happens, environmental planning for LA will be further sidelined, to allow expensive apartments to be added to the City\u2019s and County\u2019s inventory of housing that most local residents cannot afford.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n (Dick Platkin ([email\u00a0protected]<\/a>) is a retired LA city planner.\u00a0 He reports on local planning issues and is a board member of United Neighborhoods for Los Angeles<\/a>. \u00a0Previous columns are available at the CityWatchLA archives<\/a>.)<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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<\/p>\n