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Permitting & Land Use
Zoning code overhauls and community plan implementations are the dominant activity across the region. Long Beach is executing the largest single restructuring: adopting new Mixed-Use Main Street (MU-M) and Commercial Main Street (C-M) zoning districts, amending the General Plan Land Use Element for Greater Bixby Knolls corridors, and certifying multiple EIR addenda to support the changes. Culver City adopted the Fox Hills Specific Plan and is separately weighing a drive-through moratorium. Los Angeles advanced the Boyle Heights Community Plan through a full EIR and second-reading ordinances, amended the Ventura/Cahuenga Boulevard Corridor Specific Plan, and processed General Plan Amendments and zone changes for South San Vicente Boulevard and South Central Avenue properties. Redondo Beach directed staff on general plan and zoning modifications including a housing element update, while Signal Hill approved a Disposition and Development Agreement for its Heritage Square Central Business District site.
State housing mandates are a cross-cutting pressure shaping local zoning action. Culver City introduced an ordinance implementing SB 79 (Abundant and Affordable Homes Near Transit Act); Glendale countered with an ordinance delaying SB 79 effectuation for sites in Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zones or containing locally designated historic resources. Pomona adopted amendments to its Objective Design Standards (first reading May, second reading June), and Calabasas adopted its own ODS ordinance for multi-family and mixed-use projects. Historic preservation appears alongside housing pressure: Los Angeles designated the Schaarmann House and Sparkletts Bottling Plant as Historic-Cultural Monuments, and Pomona considered a landmark designation for its McDonald's at 1057 E. Mission Boulevard. Cannabis and tobacco permitting are active in LA specifically, with ordinances restricting new smoke and vape shop permits in CD 15 and amending social equity cannabis ownership transfer rules.
Spending visible in the items is concentrated in Redondo Beach: a $500,000 addition to its plan check services contract with Melad and Associates (total value $1,000,000) to sustain permitting throughput, a $48,010 extension of its general plan update consulting contract, and a $35,000 marina parking requirement study with Fehr & Peers. Los Angeles waived permit fees for wildfire-damaged structures — the dollar magnitude of foregone revenue is not specified but the waiver is citywide in scope. Long Beach sold two city-owned parcels for $37,500 and $11,000 respectively. Recurring ABC license review applications constitute a steady, unquantified administrative workload for Long Beach across multiple consecutive meeting cycles.
(Synthesized from the 120 most recent items.)
What to watch AI-generated
Key items (8)
- [33] Adopt ordinance amending Title 22.11, 22.12, 22.15, 22.30, 22.40, and 22.41 of the Long Beach Municipal Code (ZCA24-005) to establish two new zoning districts, Mixed-Use Main Street (MU-M) and Commercial Main Street (C-M) that will implement the Neighborhood Serving Corridor Low (NSC-L) and Community Commercial (CC) PlaceTypes of the Long Beach General Plan Land Use Element and minor amendments to all existing zoning districts contained within Title 22, read the first time and laid over to the next regular meeting of the City Council for final reading; — Long Beach, 2026-06-09 · Establishes two new zoning districts (Mixed-Use Main Street, Commercial Main Street) reshaping major corridors across Long Beach — the most consequential single zoning action in the dataset.
- [33] Recommendation to adopt resolution to adopt and certify an Addendum (EIRA-01-23) to the Program Environmental Impact Report (PEIR) prepared for the General Plan Land Use Element Update and Urban Design Element (EIR 03-16) relating to map and text changes to the Land Use Element (LUE), as well as implementation of the General Plan Land Use Element through an amendment to Title 22 (ZCA24-005) and related zone change (ZCHG24-005) and General Plan Amendments (GPA24-003) to rezone designated corridors roughly bounded by, and inclusive of, Locust Avenue to the west, Del Amo Boulevard to the north, the 405 freeway to the south, and the Long Beach-Lakewood city boundary to the east ("the Greater Bixby Knolls Area") and to make corrections to the LUE text for clarity and to ensure compliance with state housing laws, in accordance with provisions of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Section 15164 of the CEQA guidelines, and making certain findings and determinations that no new or — Long Beach, 2026-06-09 · Certifies the EIR addendum underpinning the Greater Bixby Knolls General Plan and zoning overhaul, locking in the environmental record for the corridor rezoning.
- [80] ORDINANCES SECOND CONSIDERATION relative to implementing the Boyle Heights Community Plan. — Los Angeles, 2026-07-01 · Second-consideration adoption of ordinances implementing the Boyle Heights Community Plan, a multi-year update affecting a dense, high-demand neighborhood.
- [26-926] CC - CONSENT ITEM: Adoption of an Ordinance Approving the Fox Hills Specific Plan, Zoning Code Text and Map Amendment, P2026-0100-SP, -ZCA, -ZCMA, to Implement the Fox Hills Specific Plan — Culver City, 2026-06-08 · Adopts the Fox Hills Specific Plan with accompanying zoning text and map amendments, creating a new planning framework for a significant Culver City district.
- [10.a.1] Intro. of Ordinance to Delay Effectuation of Senate Bill 79 ("The Abundant and Affordable Homes Near Transit Act") for Certain Sites Located Within the Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone and/or Containing a Locally Designated Historic Resource. — Glendale, 2026-06-09 · Directly tests the boundary between state housing mandates (SB 79) and local fire safety and historic preservation authority — a legal posture other cities are watching.
- [114] EXEMPTION, AD HOC COMMITTEE FOR LA RECOVERY REPORT, COMMUNICATION FROM THE CITY ATTORNEY, and ORDINANCE FIRST CONSIDERATION relative to the waiver of fees imposed in connection with permits to repair or rebuild buildings or structures damaged or destroyed by the January 2025 wildfires. — Los Angeles, 2026-07-01 · Citywide waiver of permit fees for wildfire-damaged structures signals LA's permitting posture in recovery areas and sets a precedent for fee policy.
- [26-0592] APPROVE THE THIRD AMENDMENT TO THE AGREEMENT WITH MELAD AND ASSOCIATES, INC. TO PROVIDE COMPREHENSIVE PLAN CHECK SERVICES AND INSPECTION AND PERMIT TECHNICIAN STAFFING SUPPORT AS NEEDED, ADDING $500,000 TO THE AGREEMENT, FOR A NEW NOT TO EXCEED TOTAL OF $1,000,000 FULLY OFFSET BY FEES APPROVE THE SECOND AMENDMENT TO THE AGREEMENT WITH BOWMAN INFRASTRUCTURE ENGINEERS LTD. TO PROVIDE COMPREHENSIVE PLAN CHECK SERVICES AND INSPECTION AND PERMIT TECHNICIAN STAFFING SUPPORT AS NEEDED, ADDING $500,000 TO THE AGREEMENT, FOR A NEW NOT TO EXCEED TOTAL OF $970,000 FULLY OFFSET BY FEES APPROVE THE SECOND AMENDMENT TO THE AGREEMENT WITH TRANSTECH ENGINEERS, INC TO PROVIDE COMPREHENSIVE PLAN CHECK SERVICES AND INSPECTION AND PERMIT TECHNICIAN STAFFING SUPPORT AS NEEDED, ADDING $500,000 TO THE AGREEMENT, FOR A NEW NOT TO EXCEED TOTAL OF $700,000 FULLY OFFSET BY FEES APPROVE AN AMENDMENT TO THE AGREEMENT WITH TRUE NORTH COMPLIANCE SERVICES, INC. TO PROVIDE COMPREHENSIVE PLAN CHECK SERVICES AN — Redondo Beach, 2026-05-12 · $1,000,000 plan check services contract extension is the largest single dollar figure in the dataset, reflecting sustained permitting volume pressure in Redondo Beach.
- [7] A Proposed Ordinance To Protect Open Space Under the City of Calabasas General Plan — Calabasas, 2026-06-10 · Ordinance to protect open space under the General Plan represents Calabasas's counterweight to density mandates — a direct land-use values statement from a smaller city.
- Coverage is 10 of LA County's 88 cities today, expanding across the county — not yet a full regional census.
- We compare shares of council attention (% of substantive items), not raw counts, so a small city and a large one compare fairly. Procedural boilerplate (minutes, warrants, proclamations, appointments, presentations) is stripped first.
- Dollars are $ on items naming an amount, deduped to one figure per item — not verified award totals. "—" means no amount was extracted, never that $0 was spent.
- The ingested window differs by city, so totals aren't over identical periods.
How cities compare on permitting & land use
Share of each city's council attention going to this topic (substantive items), and dollars per resident where amounts were extracted. We don't rank by raw counts.
| City | Attention share | $ (items) | $ / resident |
|---|---|---|---|
| Long Beach |
11% |
$10.7M | $22.98 |
| Culver City |
11% |
— | — |
| Signal Hill |
10% |
— | — |
| Claremont |
9% |
— | — |
| Redondo Beach |
8% |
$1.1M | $15.13 |
| Glendale |
8% |
$300K | $1.53 |
| Los Angeles |
7% |
— | — |
| Calabasas |
6% |
— | — |
| Pomona |
5% |
— | — |
| Sierra Madre |
3% |
— | — |
Named decisions on this topic
Biggest dollars
Contested votes
Vote records are partial — captured only where a city publishes minutes or an official council journal (chiefly Long Beach and Los Angeles); this is not a cross-city contestedness comparison.
Flagged for review (5)
Recovered from PDF/scanned sources; titles not fully verified. Shown for transparency.
Cross-city precedents
Similar permitting & land use actions appearing in more than one city — starting points to investigate.
Annual Budget Study Sessions — Glendale, Sierra Madre, Signal Hill
Glendale, Sierra Madre, and Signal Hill are each holding multi-department budget study sessions, reviewing proposed spending across city departments and capital projects as part of their annual budget process. AI summary
General Plan Annual Progress Reports — Calabasas, Glendale, Signal Hill
Calabasas, Glendale, and Signal Hill are each reviewing their annual General Plan progress reports, a standard requirement for California cities to track how well local development and land-use decisions align with their long-term planning goals. AI summary
Objective Design Standards for Multi-Family Housing — Calabasas, Glendale
Calabasas and Glendale are both adopting objective design standards for multi-family residential and mixed-use development, establishing clear, measurable criteria to guide the appearance and layout of new housing projects. AI summary