The New Zoning Code 201

The New Zoning Code 201

A Roundtable Discussion with Los Angeles City Planning

The objective of this forum will be to ensure AIA members and that architecture community are familiar with the new zoning code, which will be officially rolled-out in tandem with the DTLA 2040 Community Plan update.

Los Angeles City Planning (LACP) will share a brief overview of new zoning system, the policy intent as it applies to districts in Downtown LA, examples of how the new code will impact projects, as well as, methods for how to pursue alternative compliance.

After the presentation, LACP Urban Design Studio will facilitate a roundtable discussion with AIALA Government Outreach Chair, Sarah Lorenzen, AIA and an invited group of architects, who will help frame the discussion for pro-active and constructive feedback.

We will also host a Q&A with everyone in attendance. In effort to make this a fruitful discussion, please review the new zoning code and come prepared to ‘test the code’ with specific examples for how the new code will impact your projects.

Additionally, architects participating in the roundtable can continue “testing the code” sample sites after the session, and LACP will offer office hours to AIA members in early August to support any additional questions you may have.

Presenters:

Clare Kelley – City Planner, Los Angeles City Planning

Erick Lopez – City Planner, Zoning Integration Program, Los Angeles City Planning

Erin Coleman, AICP – City Planner, Los Angeles City Planning

Facilitator:

Michelle Levy – Senior City Planner, Urban Design Studio, Los Angeles City Planning

Architects Framing the Discussion:

Nathan Bishop, AIA, LEED AP – Principal, KoningEizenberg

Chava Danielson, AIA – Principal, DSH // architecture

Sarah Lorenzen, AIA – Principal, TOLO Architecture and Professor, Cal Poly Pomona & Chair, AIALA Government Outreach (GO!) Committee

Tracy Stone, AIA – Principal Architect, Tracy A. Stone Architect

Kelly vanOteghem, AIA, LEED AP – Design Director & Senior Associate, Gensler

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Michelle Levy – Senior City Planner, Urban Design Studio, Los Angeles City Planning

Michelle Levy leads LA City Planning’s Urban Design Studio. Her team promotes a more vibrant, walkable, and sustainable city through design reviews and long-range planning. Over the last 15 years, she has directed citywide and neighborhood-level policy programs including the City’s first Citywide Design Guidelines, the update of the Open Space Element of the General Plan, several active transportation plans, as well as affordable housing and Transit Oriented Communities projects. Prior to joining the City of Los Angeles, Michelle worked for the non-profit Environmental Defense Fund, New York City’s Health Department, and for Studio Benavente Architects in Northern California. She has a Master’s degree in Urban Planning from Columbia University and a B.A. in Architecture from UC Berkeley’s College of Environmental Design.

Clare Kelley – City Planner, Los Angeles City Planning

Clare Kelley is a City Planner in the City of Los Angeles Department of City Planning working on the Downtown Community Plan and the Overlay Amendments Unit. Additionally, Clare is an adjunct instructor at the Sol Price School of Public Policy, University of Southern California and has worked in open space and active transportation planning in Los Angeles. She is a past Vice Director of Awards for the Los Angeles Section of the California Chapter of APA. Clare is a native Angeleno with a Masters of Planning from the University of Southern California and a BA in History and Environmental Science from Barnard College.

Erick Lopez – City Planner, Zoning Integration Program, Los Angeles City Planning

With over 20 years of experience in the field of city planning and a demonstrated ability to build consensus among various stakeholders with diverse interests, Erick Lopez has a history of managing and completing major policy initiatives for the City of Los Angeles Department of City Planning. He spearheaded the effort to develop and fund the work program to comprehensively revise the City’s Zoning Code and is now a project manager for the New Zoning Code (aka re:code LA). Over the years, Erick has developed a unique understanding of current and emerging technology and how it can be applied to, and addressed by the field of planning.

Erin Coleman, AICP – City Planner, Los Angeles City Planning

Erin Coleman, AICP, is a City Planner with Los Angeles City Planning, and has over a decade of professional planning experience. In her current role, Erin is a project manager overseeing the comprehensive revision of the City’s Zoning Code. Erin is passionate about using technology to improve customer service, and is a project lead on WebCode, the upcoming online interface for the new Zoning Code. Prior to joining Los Angeles City Planning, Erin worked with Advancement Project’s Healthy City Program, UCLA’s Luskin School of Public Affairs, the Center for Environmental Planning and Technology, and TCA Architects. Erin received her Master’s degree in Urban and Regional Planning from UCLA and her Bachelor’s from the University of Iowa.

Nathan Bishop, AIA, LEED AP – Principal, KoningEizenberg

Nathan Bishop, AIA, LEED AP combines rigorous design thinking and empathy to propel the kind of innovative thinking, critical conversation, and spirit of inquiry which is key to KoningEizenberg’s culture. Nathan joined the firm in 2005, and became a Principal in 2011. Drawing on exceptional visualization and communication skills to quickly extract the unrecognized potential of complex urban contexts through strategy and form, Nathan has expanded the firm’s design capacity and integrated new technologies into design and practice. He teaches and lectures in design, architectural history and theory, and cultural studies, and has served on the Board of Directors for the LA Forum for Art and Architecture. His interest in learning environments for all ages inspired his tenure as President of the Board of his local preschool, Hill & Dale, where he set expectations for leadership, organization, and goals for long-term growth.

Chava Danielson, AIA – Principal, DSH // architecture

Chava Danielson, AIA, is Principal of DSH // architecture with specialties in design, project advocacy, and serving non-profit organizations. She focuses on imparting beauty and sensitive programming to recharge underserved neighborhoods through educational, therapeutic and residential projects for non-profits committed to the community.

Danielson leads DSH’s civic and child-centered work, including early education centers in which alternatives to conventional practices are employed to spark curiosity and wonder in the minds of young children.

Danielson is Adjunct Professor at Otis College of Art + Design where she teaches design studio and courses in urban history and theory. She served as chair of the Political Outreach Committee of the AIA Los Angeles, as Director for the Los Angeles Forum for Architecture and Urban Design and as a founding board member of Larchmont Charter School. She holds a M.Arch. from the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University and a B.A. in Comparative Literature from the University of California, Berkeley.

Sarah Lorenzen, AIA – Principal, TOLO Architecture and Professor, Cal Poly Pomona & Chair, AIALA Government Outreach (GO!) Committee

Sarah Lorenzen, AIA is principal at TOLO Architecture and an architecture professor at Cal Poly Pomona (where she was chair from 2012-2016). Sarah has practiced architecture for more than 20 years, working on a variety of building types including residential, institutional, and arts-related projects. Prior to TOLO Architecture, Sarah worked as a project architect at a number of award-winning firms in Atlanta, San Francisco and Los Angeles. She is chair of the AIA LA GO! Committee and is on the ACLA Board.

Sarah grew up in Mexico City and moved to the U.S. to attend college. She completed a Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) in Drawing at Smith College and at the Atlanta College of Art, and has two Master of Architecture degrees, the first from Georgia Institute of Technology and a second Masters in Metropolitan Research and Design from Sci-Arc. Sarah has published and edited numerous articles on architecture and urbanism, and she has received multiple design awards and grants including several Graham Foundation grants, a Fulbright Fellowship, and a six-week travel fellowship to China. From 2007-2020 Sarah was director of the Neutra VDL House overseeing the restoration of this National Landmark and developing cultural and arts programming.

Kelly vanOteghem, AIA, LEED AP – Design Director & Senior Associate, Gensler

Kelly is a licensed Architect with over 20 years of experience spanning all phases of design within a wide variety of architectural typologies ranging from single family home renovations to mixed use masterplans with millions of square feet of program area. Kelly draws upon this range and depth of experience in her work on supportive and affordable housing projects, mixed use developments and large scale masterplans. Each project presents a unique opportunity to examine and address the challenges posed by our world’s increasing urbanization, working closely with clients and stakeholders to explore and develop radically pragmatic solutions that positively impact our communities.

Kelly’s educational background – combining the technical rigor of Georgia Tech with the open-ended speculations of SCI_Arc – fostered a love for experimentation and iterative making as part of an open and inclusive design process. Ms. van Oteghem brings this same creative design thinking to Gensler LA’s Research leadership, LABC Housing & Transportation Committee, and the Youth and Family Task force on the board of the downtown YMCA.

Tracy Stone, AIA – Principal Architect, Tracy A. Stone Architect

Tracy Stone, AIA opened her own firm, Tracy A. Stone Architect, in 1991 after working with Finn and Ray Kappe as a project architect for 5 years. As principal of the firm, Ms Stone has been involved with a broad range of design projects, ranging from the conversion of an 11,000 sf warehouse into creative office space for a television production company to the renovation of a city-owned animal shelter into an award-winning, humane and sustainable facility. In 2012, the firm worked with Golden Road Brewery to create a VIP tasting room/pub and a new brewhouse. She has been responsible for all aspects of each job, from design and specification writing, to construction management and serving as liaison with city and governmental bodies. Ms. Stone is a member of the US Green Building Council and is a LEED Accredited Professional. She brings to her architectural practice a working knowledge of sustainable strategies, technologies and materials. Passive solar features are regularly incorporated into design solutions, with more integrated technologies employed where possible. Recent projects have utilized such features as retention basins, green roofs, thermal chimneys, building integrated photo-voltaics, permeable paving, etc to reduce the environmental footprint of the project.

Ms. Stone served as both design architect and LEED manager for the North Central Animal Services Center, which received its LEED Gold Certification in February of 2009. In addition to her practice, Ms. Stone teaches design and sustainability at several colleges and universities in the Los Angeles region. At Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, Ms Stone initiated the first sustainable design studio which has explored a number of projects in recent years related to urban stormwater runoff as it impacts the Los Angeles River basin.

The firm has been involved with the renovation and remodel of several turn of the century residences in Los Angeles, including the conversion and re-use of a 1912 building as a women’s shelter. In 1994, the firm served as preservation consultant to the City of Los Angeles for the restoration of the historic Los Angeles Theatre Center.

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For more information about AIA LA GO!, the AIA LA Government Outreach Committee, please CLICK HERE.