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Los Angeles’ seven Area Planning Commissions are currently tasked with considering certain smaller-scale projects and appeals within their geographic areas. Charter Amendment PL would replace these seven commissions with a single Neighborhood Appeals Commission.
Charter Amendment PL also proposes several other changes aimed at streamlining the city’s planning process, including setting new timeline requirements for the City Council to act on certain planning and land-use decisions.
Your guide to LA's charter amendments
Los Angeles residents are voting on six amendments to the city charter in the Nov. 3 election. LAist is helping you make sense of these complex policy changes.
- Amendment EE (LAist voter guide coming soon)
- Amendment LA
- Amendment PL
- Amendment PRK
- Amendment PRT (LAist voter guide coming soon)
- Amendment SC
What’s at stake
The seven Area Planning Commissions each have five members, for a total of 35 commissioners who weigh small projects and appeals in their neighborhoods. Charter Amendment PL would replace those 35 people spread across seven commissions with one Neighborhood Appeals Board of at least seven members.
The amendment’s goal is to reduce the staff time and city resources needed to train commissioners and support meetings, as well as create a more consistent process for appeals. Currently, each of the Area Planning Commissions is governed by its own set of rules and operating procedures.
The amendment would also set deadlines for the City Council to consider decisions made by the City’s Planning Commission or Neighborhood Appeals Commission, and vice versa, in an effort to prevent items from languishing while moving back and forth between city entities.
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The city charter currently states that if the City Planning Commission and mayor recommend approval of a proposed general plan amendment, but the City Council doesn’t vote on the amendment within 75 days, the amendment is automatically denied. If approved, Charter Amendment PL would change this language to automatically approve recommended amendments that the City Council doesn’t schedule for a vote.
Charter Amendment PL would also tweak what’s called the “floor area ratio,” a complicated calculation that’s used to determine allowable building heights across the city. Currently, the city charter states that the total floor area on any one building site cannot exceed 13 times the site’s buildable area. Charter Amendment PL would allow the City Council to change this maximum ratio by city ordinance. Downtown is the only area where anything near the current maximum ratio is allowed, and increasing the ratio could spur denser development in that part of the city.
Why now?
Charter Amendment PL is one of several charter amendments on the ballot this fall as a result of recommendations from the Charter Reform Commission. The commission was created in the aftermath of the 2022 City Hall tapes scandal, when three city councilmembers were caught making racist remarks while discussing how to maintain power. The Charter Reform Commission’s recommendations aim to make city government more transparent while limiting opportunities for corruption.
The proposed changes to Area Planning Commissions are particularly timely now, as state housing laws in recent years have changed the appeals process and made more projects subject to "ministerial approval" — approved administratively — and not subject to a discretionary vote by a board or commission. Currently, meetings are frequently canceled because there are no cases for the commissions to hear.
Official title on the ballot: City Planning Department. Charter Amendment PL.
Language you will seeSponsored message
Shall the City Charter be amended to: establish a Neighborhood Appeals Commission to replace Area Planning Commissions and establish a process for City Council review of Neighborhood Appeals Commission and City Planning Commission decisions; change the timing and process for City Council action on certain planning decisions; grant the Planning Department the authority to investigate, hear, and determine applications for quasijudicial review; and allow for changes to floor area regulations by ordinance?
What your vote means
- A "yes" vote means: You want the city to replace the seven Area Planning Commissions with a single Neighborhood Appeals Commission. You also want to see new timeline requirements and procedures to streamline the city’s planning process.
- A "no" vote means: You do not want the seven Area Planning Commissions replaced, and you also don’t want the city to make other changes to its timeline and procedures for planning decisions.
Understanding Charter Amendment PL
Area Planning Commissions were created out of the city’s last comprehensive charter reform in 1999. At the time, the idea was to put certain local land-use decisions in the hands of local representatives familiar with their corner of the city, though some developers criticized it as handing those decisions to volunteer residents who might be unfamiliar with land-use and zoning laws.
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Only specific cases are sent to Area Planning Commissions, such as appeals of decisions by city staff, decisions related to conditional use permits and recommendations on zoning changes.
In addition to the Area Planning Commissions, land-use and development decisions in Los Angeles are reviewed by the City Planning Commission, which has a broader scope and makes recommendations to the mayor, City Council and planning director. The City Planning Commission will remain intact regardless of Charter Amendment PL’s outcome.
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What supporters say
Supporters say the measure will streamline the city’s planning process and provide a clearer and more straightforward timeline for proposed developments at a time when the city is facing a housing crisis.
Notable supporters: Raymond Meza, chair of the city’s Charter Reform Commission, and Roy Samaan, president of the Engineers & Architects Association. Democratic Socialists of America’s Los Angeles chapter and the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce, which support opposing candidates for mayor, city attorney and City Council (here are LAist’s guides for District 3 and District 9), both endorse the measure in their voter guides.
What opponents say
No formal opposition has been filed, according to the Los Angeles County registrar.
Potential financial impact
According to Matthew Szabo, the city’s administrative officer, the switch from seven Area Planning Commissions to a single Neighborhood Appeals Commission would reduce annual costs for commission staffing and other resources by $360,000. The ballot measure isn’t expected to affect city revenue, according to Szabo.
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Campaign financing
Further reading
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