Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky discusses how the approval of new plans will preserve a stretch of unincorporated Southern California coastline.
Over four decades of work yielded results in April for government officials who had spent their careers seeking to protect a five-mile portion of the Santa Monica Mountains that runs along the coast in Los Angeles County. When the California Coastal Commission approved the Land Use Plan, setting the stage to certify the Local Coastal Program that will govern the area, it reflected a consensus among property owners, environmentalists, agricultural interests, and equestrian representatives that had taken many years to build. LA County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky spoke with The Planning Report about the efforts to draft a document that could satisfied these stakeholders, the impact of the plan's approval, and steps still necessary to ensure that the mountains flourish in the future.
Yaroslavsky, who was elected to Los Angeles City Council in 1975 and has been a county supervisor for 20 years, describes how the plan he helped design will prevent subdivisions and other potentially harmful development from encroaching on an ecosystem that is beginning to see the return of wildlife, in close proximity to the metropolitan area's 15 million people. Beyond that, he articulates the challenges still facing the area that will fall to the next generation of political leaders to resolve.
In Zev's words, "We are protecting the ridgelines from being sawed off. We’re protecting the oak groves and the sycamore groves from being destroyed. We’re protecting the rivers and rivulets from being polluted. We’re also protecting the Santa Monica Bay from being polluted by upstream pollutants. Basically, we’re protecting it from ourselves. My philosophy has always been to let the terrain dictate the development, not the other way around. People who own private property have a right to use it, but they don’t have a right to destroy the very thing that attracted them in the first place."
FULL STORY: Coastal Land Use Plan Approval—A Victory for Santa Monica Mountains and Zev Yaroslavsky
Pennsylvania Mall Conversion Bill Passes House
If passed, the bill would promote the adaptive reuse of defunct commercial buildings.
World's Largest Wildlife Overpass In the Works in Los Angeles County
Caltrans will soon close half of the 101 Freeway in order to continue construction of the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing near Agoura Hills in Los Angeles County.
U.S. Supreme Court: California's Impact Fees May Violate Takings Clause
A California property owner took El Dorado County to state court after paying a traffic impact fee he felt was exorbitant. He lost in trial court, appellate court, and the California Supreme Court denied review. Then the U.S. Supreme Court acted.
California Grid Runs on 100% Renewable Energy for Over 9 Hours
The state’s energy grid was entirely powered by clean energy for some portion of the day on 37 out of the last 45 days.
New Forecasting Tool Aims to Reduce Heat-Related Deaths
Two federal agencies launched a new, easy-to-use, color-coded heat warning system that combines meteorological and medical risk factors.
AI Traffic Management Comes to Dallas-Fort Worth
Several Texas cities are using an AI-powered platform called NoTraffic to help manage traffic signals to increase safety and improve traffic flow.
City of Costa Mesa
Licking County
Barrett Planning Group LLC
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Mpact Transit + Community
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Tufts University, Department of Urban and Environmental Policy & Planning
City of Universal City TX
ULI Northwest Arkansas
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.