Draft Environmental Impact Report
Comment Review Period: October 31, 2019 to December 16, 2019 (no later than 5:00 PM).
Project Description: The Proposed Plan would guide development for the Hollywood CPA through 2040 and includes amending both the text (land use policies) and the land use map of the Hollywood Community Plan. The Proposed Plan would also adopt several resolutions and zoning ordinances to implement the updates to the Community Plan, including changes for certain portions of the Hollywood CPA to allow specific uses and changes to development regulations (including height, floor area ratio (FAR), and density). These zoning ordinances would take a number of different forms, including amendments to the Zoning Map for zone and height district changes under Los Angeles Municipal Code (LAMC) Section 12.32, amendments to an existing specific plan (Vermont/Western Transit Oriented District Specific Plan), and
development of a Community Plan Implementation Overlay (CPIO) District.
The Hollywood CPIO District Subarea boundaries would generally follow Franklin Avenue to the north, U.S. Route 101 (US-101) to the east, Fountain Avenue to the south and La Brea Avenue to the west. The CPIO District would propose regulatory protections for designated historical resources and pedestrian-oriented design standards in the Hollywood CPA. The CPIO would require that the rehabilitation of designated resources comply with the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards and restrict applicants from obtaining a demolition permit without an approved replacement project. Also, to ensure consistency between the updated Community Plan and other City plans and ordinances, the Proposed Project includes amendments to the Framework and Mobility Elements of the General Plan, and other elements as necessary.
Partial Recirculation Summary: Since the publication of the Proposed Plan’s Draft EIR in November 2018, the City of Los Angeles adopted new transportation thresholds in July 2019 pursuant to Senate Bill 743. Section 4.15, Transportation and Traffic, of the Draft EIR is updated to reflect the City’s new transportation thresholds, which use vehicle miles traveled (VMT) as the primary metric for determining transportation impacts. Also, the transportation analyses in Chapter 5.0, Alternatives, is updated to reflect the City’s new adopted VMT transportation thresholds. Finally, a new appendix (Appendix N) is provided for the Draft EIR to supplement the analysis in Section 4.3-Air Quality to respond to the decision in Sierra Club v. County of Fresno (December 2018) and why it is not feasible to further describe the associated health effects of the projects significant and unavoidable air quality impacts. The Partially Recirculated Draft EIR, therefore, consists of Section 4.15, Chapter 5.0, and the new Appendix N.
Anticipated Significant Environmental Effects: Based on the analysis contained in the Partially Recirculated Draft EIR (RDEIR), the Proposed Plan would result in unavoidable significant environmental impacts with regard to: Air Quality (Violate Air Quality Standards during Construction and Operations; Cumulative Net Increase in Criteria Pollutants; Sensitive Receptors during Construction); Biological Resources (Special Status Species Habitat, Riparian Habitat, Wetlands, and Migratory Wildlife); Cultural Resources (Historical Resources); Noise (Groundborne Vibration/Noise; and Permanent and Temporary Noise increases); and Public Services (Parks).
As identified in the Draft EIR, Section 4.8, there are sites in the Proposed Plan area that are included on lists enumerated under Section 65962.5. Interested parties and agencies should review Section 4.8 of Draft EIR to identify the particular sites.
Document Review and Comments: The Recirculated Draft EIR is available for public review for a 45-day period from October 31, 2019 to December 16, 2019. If you wish to review a copy of the RDEIR or the documents referenced in the RDEIR, you may do so at the City of Los Angeles Department of City Planning at: 200 North Spring Street, Room 667, Los Angeles. Copies of the RDEIR are also available for general public review at the following City of Los Angeles Public Library branches:
1. Richard J. Riordan Central Library (630 W. 5th St.)
2. Frances Howard Goldwyn - Hollywood Regional Branch Library (1623 Ivar Ave.)
3. Los Feliz Branch Library (1874 Hillhurst Ave.)
4. Cahuenga Branch Library (4591 Santa Monica Blvd.)
5. John C. Fremont Branch Library (6121 Melrose Ave.)
6. Will & Ariel Durant Branch Library (7140 Sunset Blvd.)
The Recirculated Draft EIR can be downloaded or reviewed at the Department of City Planning’s website: https://planning.lacity.gov/development-services/eir. The RDEIR can be purchased on cd-rom for $7.50 per copy. Contact Linda Lou at linda.lou@lacity.org or (213) 978-1473 to purchase one.
If you wish to submit comments on the Partially Recirculated Draft EIR, comply with the following instructions. In accordance with CEQA Guidelines Section 15088.5(f)(2), the City requests that commenters limit the scope of their comments to only the recirculated information (i.e. comments should address only Section 4.15 Transportation and Traffic, Chapter 5.0, Alternatives, and Appendix N). The comments shall be written or typed and the comment shall include the commenter’s name, contact information, and file number ENV-2016-1451-EIR. The written or typed comments shall be submitted to Linda Lou, in one of the following manners:
Mail: Linda Lou
Los Angeles Department of City Planning
200 N. Spring Street, Room 667
Los Angeles, California 90012
E-mail: linda.lou@lacity.org
Comment Review Period: October 31, 2019 and December 16, 2019, and no later than 5:00 PM on December 16, 2019.
Comments that fail to comply with the above instructions for submissions for comments on the RDEIR may not be included in the Final EIR and receive a response to comments under CEQA Guidelines section 15088 and 15088.5.
