LOS ANGELES – Los Angeles City District 13 Councilmember Mitch O’Farrell recently filed a motion which seeks to start a process that will determine appropriate building heights in downtown Echo Park.
According to a spokesperson for the councilmember, the intention behind the motion is to “preserve the integrity and character” of the neighborhood.
In a copy of the motion obtained by the Asian Journal, O’Farrell said that the Echo Park Community Design Overlay District (CDO) is located within the Silver Lake-Echo Park-Elysian Valley Community Plan Area — a zone that contains some height limitations that “are not compatible with its neighborhood character.”
The motion proposed the removal of the Height District 1-L designation from the Echo Park CDO because it only applies to a very small area within the CDO’s geographical boundaries.
“The Height District 1-L designation within the Echo Park CDO is completely out of scale with surrounding uses and zoning,” O’Farrell said in the motion.
He pointed out that other heights range from 1-VL (45 feet) to 1-XL (30 feet). The 1-L designation allows buildings to be built up to 75 feet in height and is completely out of scale with the neighborhood, the motion explained.
According to the motion signed July 30, the removal of the said building height category will protect the character and identity of the Echo Park CDO.
The move also preserves the area’s “significant architecture, … view shed, … and scale that is compatible with existing development.”
The councilmember also said that this would “enhance the pedestrian orientation [sic].”
(www.asianjournal.com)
(LA Weekend August 3-6, 2013 Sec A pg.7)
