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CCA Co-Hosts Community Forum on Industrial Land Use with CCEA and the L.A. Fashion District
CCA, the Central City East Association (CCEA), and the L.A. Fashion District co-hosted a public community meeting on Monday night to give Downtown stakeholders the opportunity to express their concerns with the Planning Department's and Community Redevelopment Agency's (CRA) recent recommendations related to Downtown's industrially-zoned land.
Councilmembers Jan Perry
and
Jose Huizar
attended and expressed their commitment to working with the community to find solutions that work for everyone. CCA's President & CEO
Carol Schatz
made compelling remarks and asked for the community's support in moving forward with the recommendations for industrial land use that CCA submitted to the City in July.
CCA will be meeting with various stakeholders over the course of the next two weeks, including a subcommittee of CCA's land use and development experts, to create a comprehensive response to the Planning Department and CRA recommendations. These recommendations are detrimental to Downtown revitalization as they suggest preserving the vast majority of Downtown's industrial land for industrial uses only. In the Arts District and the few areas where mixed-use development may be allowed, the recommendations suggest that the City should require an affordable housing component or other public benefit.
CCA has been leading the business community's response on this issue since the Mayor's office released a memo last year directing the Planning Department and others to use caution when processing industrial land conversion cases. The memo caused a de facto "moratorium" on conversions and halted community development in critical regions of Downtown.
CCA Meets with Other Business Organizations to Create Development Reform Plan
CCA hosted a discussion on development reform among the leadership from local business organizations, including the L.A. Chamber, L.A. Business Council, Hollywood Chamber, Building Industry Association (BIA), and the Valley Industry & Commerce Association (VICA). The group discussed recommendations CCA submitted to the Planning Commission in early November, plans to expand CCA's recommendations, and the next steps in moving forward with a development reform proposal supported by the entire business community.
CCA is the business community's leader on development reform, initiating numerous reforms through its work on a variety of housing-related issues. CCA has been asked by
Councilmember Parks
and the
Mayor's
office for a list of recommendations for the upcoming year.
Grand Avenue Plan Moving Forward
CCA's President & CEO
Carol Schatz
and numerous other stakeholders testified in support of the Related Companies plans for the Grand Avenue project, a $2 billion development that will add restaurants, retail, public open space, condos, and a boutique hotel to the area surrounding the Walt Disney Concert Hall. This is a critical project for Downtown, and CCA has been a strong supporter of the Grand Avenue project since its inception.
Several community groups have expressed concern that the project does not include enough public benefits in light of certain tax benefits included in the plan. CCA believes that the Related Companies have made every effort to create a project that is both financially feasible and community-friendly. The Grand Avenue Authority voted to approve the Grand Avenue Plan; however, the Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) has authority to approve the requested tax breaks. CCA will be closely following discussions leading up to Grand Avenue's CRA hearing, which is scheduled for
December 21st at 10:00 a.m. at 354 S. Spring Street, 6th Floor Board Room.
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• CCA staff testified in opposition to the current version of the Clean Air Action Plan before the Harbor Commission on November 20th. The Plan does not reflect the business community's recommendations. Despite CCA's and the business community's strong opposition, the Harbor Commission moved to support the plan, which is a living document that will be revisited yearly. • CCA staff bid Councilmember Alex Padilla farewell at an event held at CCA member Cedd Moses' Golden Gopher. Padilla will soon be representing the 20th District of California in the State Senate. • CCA staff attended a stakeholder meeting on the MTA's proposed Congestion Mitigation Fee. CCA is inviting the consultants on the project to give a presentation on the proposal to a joint committee of CCA's Transportation & Infrastructure and Housing, Land Use & Development Committees. Date TBD. • CCA staff attended a check donation ceremony at the Midnight Mission. CCA member VONS donated $20,000 to the Midnight Mission, to help fund outreach services to the homeless on Skid Row. Councilmember Jan Perry attended, as did representatives from the VONS Companies Charitable Foundation, which is supported through a voluntary Employee Donation Program. • CCA testified in support of Phase II of the L.A. Live project at City Council today. Phase II of L.A. Live will bring a much-awaited Convention Center Hotel to Downtown. • CCA staff testified in support of creating a Local Business Retention and Attraction Task Force. The Business Task Force will serve as a vehicle that will give voice to efforts to attract and retain businesses, as well as address concerns expressed by the business community. CCA will be a member of the task force. CCA IN THE NEWS
"'We need [the Grand Avenue project] to give life to what we already have here,' said Carol Schatz, head of the Central City Assn. and the Downtown Business Improvement District. 'Right now, it's not a grand avenue. It needs to be a grand avenue, with amenities that pull people from all over.'
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