Politics & Government
How Will County General Plan Change Affect Altadena?
The county presented progress on its state-required general plan at the Altadena Town Council meeting Tuesday, but made it clear that more changes to Altadena's planning future are likely at a later area-specific planning process.
Counties and cities are legally required in California to put together a general plan that has guidelines on housing, transportation, open space, and more; L.A. County is in the midst of its process, which will conclude late in 2012, and officials presented on their plan at Tuesday's Altadena Town Council meeting.
But if Town Council members were expecting precise details on changes, or a comprehensive idea of how the plan will change, county planners at the meeting very quickly made it clear that they would not have much to say on that subject, at least not in the 15 minutes that the Council allotted for the presentation.
In addition, Altadena-specific plans will not change at all during the general plan process, according to Leon Freeman of the Los Angeles County Planning Department. That means no increased density, new housing plans, business redevelopment zones, or centralized open space plan changes.
Find out what's happening in Altadenawith free, real-time updates from Patch.
So why is the general plan process significant to Altadena?
The plan will lay out general guidelines for the entire county through 2035 that will dictate how Altadena's specific plans might later change. For example, the current general plan, completed in 1980, does not take current laws like greenhouse gas restrictions into place, according to Freeman.
Find out what's happening in Altadenawith free, real-time updates from Patch.
That would mean a centralized county policy on housing that adjusted for reducing greenhouse emissions could later mean that Altadena housing zones or other policies would have to change to accommodate that.
New transportation policies, open space policies, or more could have a larger effect as well.
Freeman said the county hopes to make the process as accessible to the public as possible with public meetings and other outreach. One audience member did point out that no Altadena meetings are currently scheduled for public input, but Freeman said that the department would be willing to "go anywhere" to do a presentation on the subject.
The actual general plan, as well as a timeline on the process, can be accessed here.
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