The Boyle Heights Community Plan Update
Scroll Down to Learn More
About the Community Plan Update
About the Community Plan Update
The City of Los Angeles maintains 35 distinct Community Plans that make up the Land Use Element of the General Plan for the City. Each Plan contains policies and goals guiding how land is used across the City.
As part of the process to update Community Plans, changes to policies, programs, and zoning are made to implement the vision of the community.
The Community Plan’s importance lies in its ability to shape positive community change and provide guidance that results in sustainable land use practices that balance the physical character and social urban fabric of the community with local, State, and National efforts to address challenges such as social equity, housing shortages, and climate change.
The process of developing the Boyle Heights Community Plan is a multi-year collaborative effort in which broad public participation was obtained through a series of public events where stakeholders provided input and recommendations.
The Community Plan and Zoning
Soto Street, looking North.
The Boyle Heights Community Plan Update will utilize new zoning tools created through the City’s comprehensive zoning code update and implemented through the Boyle Heights Community Plan.
The Boyle Heights Community Plan will have tailored zoning designations developed to implement the policy vision that has been created over the past several years of outreach.
This presentation and series of interactive maps will walk through some of the ways that zoning is being used in Boyle Heights to address issues of housing affordability, environmental justice, food access, neighborhood identity, and local jobs.
For additional information on the Boyle Heights Community Plan Update, including the draft Plan policy document and Community Benefits Program, please visit our website .
The New Zoning Structure
The new zoning code contains five primary zoning modules, shown here. Each lot in Boyle Heights will undergo a zone change, and will have a unique “zoning string.” At the end of this presentation, there is an interactive zoning map with the comprehensive General Plan Land Use Designations and zoning that is proposed for each lot in the Community Plan Area.
Residential Neighborhoods
Nearly 40% of the land in Boyle Heights is zoned for or built as multi-unit residential uses today. The Plan maintains these neighborhoods for multi-unit housing, and brings forward protections for residential neighborhoods, including a number of goals, policies, programs, and zoning strategies that safeguard existing households. The majority of new housing growth and development is directed away from the existing neighborhoods and towards mixed-use corridors around existing and future bus and rail service. This proposal is intended to alleviate future development pressures on the existing residential neighborhoods while bringing current and future residents closer to commercial amenities and transportation options.
Zoning for Existing Development Patterns
Residential neighborhoods in Boyle Heights often have structures or dwellings at the rear of the property. However, many existing rear yard structures predate the existing zoning regulations, which require a 15-foot rear yard setback. The new zoning regulations will allow for additional infill development to occur throughout the residential neighborhoods while maintaining the existing housing stock.
Continue scrolling to learn more.
Under the new draft zoning, the “VLN1” and “VLN2” Form Districts applied throughout the residential neighborhoods in Boyle Heights reduce the rear yard setback to 3 feet, bringing existing nonconforming structures into conformance and allowing new rear-yard infill development on existing developed properties. This tool helps safeguard households by allowing new units to be added to property without losing existing residential units on the site.
Continue scrolling to learn more.
In addition, the amount of building square footage, or FAR, in the new zoning regulations is reduced from the existing regulations to better reflect the scale of existing housing, while the allowable density, or number of units, is maintained.
Zoning for Corner Stores
Existing corner stores, or “tienditas,” play an important role in providing the surrounding neighborhood with fresh groceries and basic household goods, as well as providing opportunities for local employment and business ownership.
Draft zoning and land use regulations allow for corner stores within residential areas, with operating standards such as size limits, location on corner lots only, and limited hours of operation. For more information, please see the " Neighborhood Identity " info sheet, and view the RN2 and RN3 Use Districts for more details on proposed regulations.
The map demonstrates the areas where the proposed zoning will allow new corner stores, with operating conditions, through the RN2 and RN3 Use Districts.
In addition, the map demonstrates the location of many existing tienditas throughout the neighborhoods of Boyle Heights.
Mixed-Use Corridors
Boyle Heights’ mixed-use developments characterize the neighborhood’s most vital corridors. New zoning standards support established mixed-use corridors and encourage opportunities for small business along corridors such as Whittier Boulevard, First Street, Wabash Avenue, and Soto Street.
The Plan encourages more housing along mixed-use corridors close to bus and rail transit to reduce the impacts of development on the surrounding residential neighborhoods, incentivizing greater affordable housing development and growth in these areas.
The new zoning along mixed-use corridors requires new buildings to be built closer to the street and provide pedestrian entrances and greater transparency, to reflect some of the historic development patterns along these corridors and improve the pedestrian experience. For more details on these regulations, please visit the Form District and Frontage Districts sections of the new zoning code.
Opportunities for Small Business
Through the new zoning on mixed-use corridors, the Plan carries forward the community visions of continued opportunity for small business. Through the Use Districts, size limitations are proposed for new commercial establishments that limit new businesses to 5,000 square feet along corridors such as Cesar E. Chavez Avenue, Wabash Avenue, Lorena Street, and First Street.
Along corridors such as Fourth Street, Soto Street, and Whittier Boulevard, new businesses are limited to 50,000 square feet.
Industrial Land
Industrial Land for Jobs
Draft Zoning and land use regulations maintain the existing mix of Light Industrial and Heavy Industrial land, designated for jobs-producing uses, throughout the Plan Area.
Industrial areas closest to residential neighborhoods are proposed to change from heavy industrial zones to lighter industrial zones, indicated on the map below. Please use the slider tool to see areas with existing light and heavy industrial zones compared to the proposed light and heavy industrial zones.
Existing Industrial Zones (Left) & Proposed Industrial Zones (Right)
Permanent "Green Zones"
Adopted as an overlay in 2016, Clean Up Green UP (CUGU) began as a pilot program for the communities of Pacoima, Wilmington, and Boyle Heights. Through the proposed zoning, CUGU regulations have been incorporated into the zoning instead of as an overlay, through Development Standards and Use District regulations in the IL1 and IH1 Use Districts .
Connecting to the Los Angeles River
The Community Plan seeks to improve access and connectivity to the Los Angeles River for Boyle Heights’ residents through policies that build off of the existing LA River Revitalization Master Plan and fundamentals of the River Improvement Overlay (RIO) district. The new zoning Frontage District requires that buildings have frequent breaks between them to increase pedestrian access to the River as well as promote visual connections to the River. Landscaped buffers on frontages facing the River and transparency features embed existing regulations found in the RIO into the zoning, and aim to bring more public green space to developments near the Los Angeles River.
Along the Los Angeles River, the zoning is proposed to change from heavier industrial uses to light industrial uses, through the IX2 Use District . This Use District will continue to allow for warehousing, textile manufacturing, office space, and limited commercial uses, while limited new heavier or noxious uses from locating near existing residential uses and the forthcoming 6th Street PARC Project and Los Angeles River.
The Community Benefits Program
Expanding on Existing TOC Guidelines
The Transit Oriented Communities (TOC) Incentive Program , funded by Measure JJJ in 2016, encourages the construction of affordable housing near public transit citywide. A key component of the Boyle Heights Community Plan is the Community Benefits Program applied throughout Boyle Heights that establishes incentives for affordable housing and is tailored to the needs of the community.
The Community Benefits Program will act as the TOC program for areas in close proximity to transit and expand opportunities for affordable housing not identified in today’s TOC Guidelines.
A Tailored TOC Program
The Community Benefits Program expands areas where affordable housing production is incentivized beyond the Citywide TOC Tiers - including major corridors such as Whittier Boulevard.
To utilize the Community Benefits Program, a project must set aside the following percentage of units as affordable:
For more information, please see " Affordable Housing Incentive Program " info sheet.
Greater Incentives near Transit and Amenities
The Boyle Heights Community Benefits Program tailors incentives to better reflect the development patterns and existing conditions of Boyle Heights.
The draft Boyle Heights Community Benefits Program will offer greater incentives to encourage the production of more affordable and mixed-income housing in proximity to transit and other resources and amenities, in the areas indicated on the map.
Tailored Incentives in Neighborhoods
In existing lower-scale residential neighborhoods located close to transit, under the draft Boyle Heights Community Benefits Program, the incentives for density and floor area are similar to those of the Citywide TOC program, but the height incentives are calibrated to maintain the existing scale and character of the area.
Proposed Base & Bonus Development Potential
Base & Bonus Floor Area Ratio
Bonus available only for projects utilizing the Boyle Heights Community Benefits Program
Base FAR & Bonus FAR
Base & Bonus Height Limit
Bonus available only for projects utilizing the Boyle Heights Community Benefits Program
Base Height & Bonus Height
Draft Boyle Heights Zoning Map
The draft General Plan Land Use Designations and zones can be viewed using this interactive map. Please continue scrolling for a tutorial on how to use the interactive map.
The interactive map illustrates proposed changes addressing land use mix, height, massing and feel of the buildings along the street. These detailed zoning and land use recommendations were developed based on the City’s goals for housing, economy, mobility, health, and sustainability, and were informed through public input over the past several years.
Please see below for a tutorial on how to use the interactive map.
Story Map Series
How to use the Zoning Map
How to Use the Map
Step 1:
To search by property address, click on the magnifying glass at the top left hand corner of the map. Type in the property address and press enter.
Click on the magnifying glass to search by Address
Click on a parcel within the interactive map to view the draft regulations.
Continue Scrolling Down
Step 2:
As you continue scrolling. You can zoom in/out of the interactive map to guide the user.
Example
Step 3:
Another way to guide the user on the interactive map is to pan sideways also.
Example
Step 4:
Did you see the map pan? Cool huh?
Optional User Survey
Thank you for reviewing this interactive presentation of proposed zoning in Boyle Heights. Below is an optional survey, so we can ensure that we are reaching as many stakeholders as we can, and identify where we can improve our outreach. For more information on the Boyle Heights Community Plan, please visit our website at www.planning4LA.org/bhplan. Thank you for your continued engagement!
Optional User Survey / Encuesta opcional
Thank you, we hope you enjoyed viewing our storymap.
#Planning4LA
