A Status Update w/ Los Angeles City Planning

AIA|LA Presents…

A Status Update w/ Los Angeles City Planning

A Virtual Forum – RSVP HERE For Access Details

Please join us on May 15th for a special briefing with Los Angeles City Planning (LACP) leadership on topics of interest to the architecture & design community.  We will hear a status update on how LACP has responded to pandemic crisis, including the various changes to their development services and permitting processes.  We will also hear about the latest Urban Design Studio initiatives and the new format for the bi-weekly Professional Volunteer Program (PVP) meetings.  In addition, we will hear updates about the Office of Historic Resources programs and initiatives.

This forum will also include a discussion about the role of architecture and design in planning for a forthcoming transitional period with continued social distancing measures.

Featured Speakers:

Lisa M. Webber, AICP – Deputy Director, Project Planning Bureau, Los Angeles City Planning
Ken Bernstein, AICP – Principal City Planner, Office of Historic Resources and Urban Design Studio, Los Angeles City Planning
Greg Verabian, AIA – President, AIA Los Angeles & Design Director, Principal, HKS (moderator)

A Virtual Forum – RSVP HERE For Access Details

Biographies:

Lisa M. Webber, AICP – Deputy Director, Project Planning Bureau, Los Angeles City Planning

Lisa M. Webber serves as the Deputy Director for the Los Angeles City Planning and oversees all operations of the Project Planning Bureau. This includes the functions of the Development Services Center, Expedited Case Processing, Major Projects, the Office of Zoning Administration, and three geographic project planning divisions covering the San Fernando Valley, Central Los Angeles and Coastal-West-South Los Angeles areas.

Prior to joining the City of Los Angeles, Lisa held various planning positions with the Santa Clarita Community Development Department, serving as the planning manager from to 2005-2012. In her role as planning manager, she directed all current and advance planning processes and projects for Santa Clarita, coordinating closely with the City Council, Planning Commission and City Manager’s Office to ensure the City’s planning goals were achieved.

Lisa also served as a planner with Parsons HBA in Pasadena, CA and Planning Resources in Wheaton, Illinois working on rail transportation projects and the preparation of environmental documents.

A Los Angeles native, Lisa received her undergraduate degree from Loyola Marymount University, earned a master’s degree in Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Lisa is a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP).

Lisa resides in Los Angeles with her husband and two sons.

Ken Bernstein, AICP – Principal City Planner, Office of Historic Resources and Urban Design Studio, Los Angeles City Planning

Ken Bernstein, AICP, is a Principal City Planner for the Los Angeles Department of City Planning. In this capacity, he serves as Manager of the City’s Office of Historic Resources, where he directs Los Angeles’ historic preservation policies. He serves as lead staff member for the City’s Cultural Heritage Commission, has overseen the completion of SurveyLA, an award-winning multi-year citywide survey of historic resources, and is working to create a comprehensive historic preservation program for Los Angeles. He is also currently overseeing the Department’s Urban Design Studio and has previously directed other policy planning initiatives, including work on Community Plan updates, housing policy, and transportation planning.

He previously served as Director of Preservation Issues for the Los Angeles Conservancy, where he directed the Conservancy’s public policy and advocacy activities, as Planning and Transportation Deputy to Los Angeles City Councilmember Laura Chick, and as Editor of The Planning Report, a monthly publication on urban planning issues in Southern California. He has a Master’s Degree in Public Affairs and Urban and Regional Planning from Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, and a B.A. in Political Science from Yale University.

Greg Verabian, AIA – President, AIA Los Angeles & Design Director, Principal, HKS 

Greg Verabian, AIA is a Principal at HKS. He is Design Director and Practice Leader at HKS Los Angeles with knowledge of building types from commercial and multi-family/mixed-use towers to corporate HQs and laboratories. Greg was Chair of the Design Awards Committee for AIA California and the AIA Los Angeles, past Treasurer, Vice President and the 2020 Board President of AIA/LA.

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