From the desk of Will Wright, Hon. AIA|LA
Director of Government & Public Affairs

AIA|LA & LACP Roundtable Discussion on the Landscape and Site Design Ordinance

Late last month, we organized a roundtable presentation with AIA|LA, ASLA, and LACP Urban Design Studio at Studio-MLA to discuss the recently proposed Landscape and Site Design Ordinance.  The draft ordinance reflects the culmination 3+ years of working with LACP on advancing their Healthy Buildings, Healthy Places initiative.

The roundtable served as an opportunity to learn more about the draft ordinance and to provide critical feedback and specific recommendations on how to improve it with more insight from architects and landscape architects.

Joining us was Stephanie Landregan, FASLA – the Director for the Landscape Architecture Program and the Horticulture & Gardening Program at UCLA Extension.  She provided substantial feedback on the draft ordinance.

To read her comments, CLICK HERE.

If you have additional thoughts on the LSDO, then please share your specific recommendations with me at will@aialosangeles.org.

We’ll collect your comments and share a comprehensive letter with LACP to help make the ordinance more effective.

This ordinance will impact the site design of the majority of your projects in the City of Los Angeles.

AIA California Board of Directors Adopted Positions on Legislation

From June 14, 2024 AIA CA Relevance

The AIA California Board of Directors regularly takes positions on legislation that impacts the profession, whether that impact is positive or negative. During the May 31, 2024 board meeting, the board finalized positions on 38 bills (in addition to the 6 priority bills the Executive Committee formerly took action on). A complete list of the bill positions can be found here.

The 2024 Legislative Session saw 2,124 bills introduced. From bills that seek to streamline and make more viable adaptive reuse and accessory dwelling unit projects, to bills that ease CEQA requirements for housing projects, to bills that incentivize new housing creation, to bills that help our state meet its climate goals through addressing embodied carbon in the built environment, the legislation introduced this year saw a continued alignment between the issues legislators are seeking to address and the priorities of AIA California, namely housing and climate action.

AIA California staff reviewed all of the bills introduced, pulling out about a hundred bills that were relevant to each of our three legislation review subcommittees, which together equal about 40 AIA CA members: Climate Action, Housing Steering, and Advocacy Advisory.

These committees review the legislation assigned to them and make recommendations to the Board.

The bills were then reviewed by the Executive Committee before receiving a vote from the Board on official positions. To date, the AIA California, via the Board of Directors and Executive Committee, has voted to take positions on 44 bills.

Bills are often amended or changed drastically throughout the legislative process. AIA CA monitors those changes and brings any bills back to the committees and board for review if needed.

For a complete list of the positions on bills, click here.

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AIA|LA & LACP DESIGN REVIEW SESSIONS

In 2024, we will coordinate thirty-six virtual design review sessions, which will serve as opportunities for architects and designers to help the Los Angeles City Planning’s Urban Design Studio critically review upcoming projects throughout the City.

Upcoming sessions include:

Tuesday, Jun 18 (10am – 12pm)

Tuesday, July 2 (10am – 12pm)

Tuesday, July 9 (10am – 12pm)

Tuesday, July 16 (10am – 12pm)

Join us here w/ RSVP to gain zoom access.

Reach out and get more involved!

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Will Wright, Hon. AIA|LA
Director, Government & Public Affairs
t: 213.639.0764
e: will@aialosangeles.org
www.aialosangeles.org