The Cornfield Arroyo Seco Specific Plan (CASP) in CD1 is undergoing significant revisions, with the goal of modernizing development standards and implementation for the square mile of land that contains parts of Chinatown, Cypress Park, and Lincoln Heights. In December 2023, the City Planning Commission officially adopted the CASP Update. This updated plan seeks to enhance the production of affordable, mixed-income, and permanent supportive housing while underscoring the importance of regulating industrial uses. While the original draft did not place any size limitations on wholesale and warehousing land uses, a later draft did place size limitations on uses over 25,000 square feet. Our office successfully worked to reduce that threshold even lower to 15,000 square feet in order to protect the health and safety of our residents.
However, these proposed regulations aren’t enforceable until the Council approves the CASP Update. So last month, we introduced a motion to enact an interim control ordinance to lower the threshold for discretionary review of warehousing, distribution, and storage facilities to 15,000 square feet until the CASP Update is fully in effect. Given the significant health and safety concerns associated with large wholesale and warehouse operations in neighborhoods, this will safeguard communities living near industrial land and help mitigate environmental hazards.
You can read the full text of the motion and follow it through the legislative process by clicking here.
