GWNC to Host “Land Use 101: Transit Oriented Communities” Town Hall

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The Greater Wilshire Neighborhood Council’s “Civics 101” Zoom town hall series returns Wednesday evening with Land Use 101, a moderated panel discussion on Transit Oriented Communities (TOC) — project guidelines which have had the “biggest influence on residential development in the City in years,” according to GWNC Land Use Committee chair Philip Farha.

Located along transit arteries and on nearby residential blocks, TOCs are granted more density in exchange for low, very low, or extremely low-income units. The 2017 guidelines streamline the lengthy approval process and can allow for taller buildings, less stringent parking requirements, shorter setbacks, and the like.

“We plan to show you how and where the City’s TOC program will affect Greater Wilshire,” says Jane Usher, a founding GWNC board member and former president of the City Planning Commission. “This information isn’t available anywhere else.”

Tommy Atlee has worked on the event with fellow Windsor Square residents Usher and Marissa Levin, and he will bring a map of TOC projects in the area. “If you are interested in the push for more apartments near transit and want to understand how they make buildings work financially, you should come. We’ll pop open the hood of the Planning Department to learn how the program is administered,” Atlee promises.

The panel will feature a Planning Rep to give a technical overview and explain the metrics the City uses to monitor the program, and Anthony Dedousis of Abundant Housing LA, who will make the case that TOCs are one of the most successful tools to date toward the production of affordable housing. Former 20-year LA planner and neighborhood activist Dick Platkin will round out the panel, taking a critical view and expressing concerns about the program’s impacts to neighborhoods.

“We all want the same thing—to live in a peaceful environment with people we like and affordable housing. The difference is how we get there. The best thing we can do is bring people from different perspectives together and try and find common ground,” observes Farha.

Wednesday’s town hall is a unique opportunity for anyone who wants to understand how today’s decisions will affect our neighborhoods for the next 100 years.

What: “Land Use 101,” a GWNC Civics-101 town hall
When: Wednesday, June 23, 6 p.m.
Where: Zoom (https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89763262338) or dial (669) 900-6833 and enter 897
6326 2338#.

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