On Friday, March 1, 2019 the Los Angeles Department of City Planning advised NCVV’s Board of Directors that it will no longer require Specific Plan Compliance Review (including additional fees) for single family residence projects that fully comply with all applicable Specific Plan regulations.
For the past several years the Planning Department has required an added level of administrative approval (and associated fees) for any Valley Village single family addition or remodel projects. While this added review “technically” ensured that each project was compliant with our Specific Plan, it unfortunately added thousands of dollars to the cost of securing city approval for the project. In fact, there is only one portion of the Specific Plan that could apply to single family addition/remodel projects – a 30′ height limit. Since 1986 when the city adopted a Specific Plan for Valley Village, no Compliance Review was needed. Only in the past few years has the Planning Department required a full administrative review, which resulted in higher fees and a longer approval process.
For almost twelve months your NCVV Board along with our Planning and Land Use and Community Plan Committees, has been working diligently with the Planning Department, the Office of Councilman Paul Krekorian and his Chief of Staff Karo Torossian, and affected homeowners to secure this change to the planning process. On Friday we were very happy to receive word that this has been done. This is a very important step forward that protects the character of Valley Village and does not subject our homeowners to unnecessary fees and delays for their renovation projects.
The three page letter received from the Planning Department details the background on this matter and advises of the change in policy. The letter concludes:
We are very grateful to leadership of the Planning Department and our Council office, and to all of the Board members, Committee members, and stakeholders who helped advocate for this important change.
Tony Braswell, President
Dale Liebowitz-Neglia, Chair, Planning and Land Use Committee
Glenn Block, Chair, Community Plan Committee