What’s the issue?

Residents of Ladera Heights and surrounding areas have recently been informed that the LA City Planning Department proposes to upzone the Ladera Shopping Center and nearby parcels from a “Community Center” to a “Regional Center."  The proposed upzoning would allow for buildings of unlimited height and significantly alter character of our local community.

The Ladera Center is uniquely situated. Approximately one-third of the property is in City of Los Angeles Ladera (a Westchester neighborhood), and the other two-thirds is in Los Angeles County’s unincorporated area of Ladera Heights.   In addition to properties located within the footprint of the shopping center, the proposal would allow for the upzoning of properties along Fairview Blvd. that are adjacent to both existing housing on that street, and homes located in the Heights at Ladera development (including LA City Ladera’s Bradley Place), the Bank of America site, and the other common open areas adjacent to the shopping center).

While the initial City Planning proposal recommended that Ladera properties retain their current designation as Community Centers, this designation was recently changed with the previous support of activists in Westchester who objected to the upzoning of their proposed neighborhood and suggested that such unlimited development be placed in “peripheral areas,” such as Ladera.  Ladera is not a peripheral area. It is the center of a vibrant, diverse, and culturally important Los Angeles community.