This probably sounds familiar in more places than one: just a few stakeholders accounts for a clearly disproportionate number of the appeals made to the Planning Department in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Westwood.
"Nearly two-thirds of appeals against Westwood businesses and properties in the last 20 years were made by the same three community members," reports Stephanie Lai.
Westwood is a neighborhood in Los Angeles, home to the University of California, Los Angeles.
Lai continues: "A document compiled by the Los Angeles Department of City Planning listed 72 appeals made since 1998. Of the 72 appeals, 61% were filed by the same three community members in a community of over 50,000. Appeals are alteration requests filed with the Los Angeles Department of City Planning addressing areas including building amenities, violations to city plans and conditions on operating."
Grayson Peters, a North Westwood Neighborhood Council member and second-year political science student at UCLA, posted the document on Facebook as evidence of abuses of the appeals process in the Planning Department.
FULL STORY: Document shows three people account for majority of property appeals in Westwood
Public Outcry Greets Plan to Connect L.A. to Pasadena via Bus Rapid Transit
Voters might have approved transit funding multiple measures by wide margins in Los Angeles County in recent years, but actual project proposals still have trouble appealing at the hyper-local level.
New Hollywood Community Plan Draft Released
One of the most controversial community planning documents in Los Angeles history was approved by the city in 2012 and thrown out by a judge in 2013. The new draft environmental impact report for the plan is now publicly available.
LA Times: City Council Should Take Responsibility for Lack of Transit Oriented Development
The Los Angeles Times editorial board has strong words for the Los Angeles City Council about planning for transit oriented development.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
The state-sanctioned urbicide of Austin
People don’t kill cities. Freeways do.
US to reduce Colorado River water deliveries to Mexico
A new Colorado Treaty amendment reduces Mexico’s Colorado River water allocation by 250,000 acre feet.
5 New England states march closer to 800 megawatt wind energy project
Securing federal approval for the project may be complicated under the Trump administration, which has historically been hostile towards domestic wind power.
Baltimore to break ground on $50 million Transit Priority Project
The project will bring faster bus trips, safer streets and better bike connections to Baltimore.
Airbnb launches $250 million 'last-dollar financing' housing accelerator, makes first investment in Austin
The company will put $6.4 million towards affordable housing development in Texas’ capital.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
Eagle County Government
Harvard University Graduate School of Design
Nashville Planning Department
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello
Journal of the American Planning Association