KEEPING YOU INFORMED IN LOS ANGELES

The Los Angeles City Council voted on April 6, 2021, to explore a project which could cut back the use of wood-frame construction for larger developments in some of its most densely populated neighborhoods.

The report back, based on a recommendation from the Council's Public Safety Committees, would bring about an expansion of Fire District 1 - an area that currently contains commercial hubs and neighborhoods with older buildings such as Downtown, Century City, Hollywood, etc. It would apply to all projects consisting of at least 150,000 SF of floor area, or as little as 100,000 SF of floor area if the building would be more than 30 ft in height.

"We fully support the City Council's efforts to strengthen building practices in our city," said Los Angeles/Orange Counties Building and Construction Trades Council executive secretary Ron Miller in a March news release. "We represent the skilled men and women who build LA. We see firsthand how important safety is. This ordinance will have a huge impact on many communities across the city, and I encourage the City Council to act swiftly and give all residents access to safer and more resilient housing." (Sharp, 2021, p.1)

Under the instruction adopted by Council, they will examine the impacts of an expansion of Fire District 1's boundaries to include all areas within the City of Los Angeles that is covered by the California Department of Forestry's Very High Severity Zone and the City's High Wind Velocity Zone. Hillside neighborhoods and parts of Highland Park, Echo Park, Silver Lake, Los Feliz, and Pacific Palisades could be impacted by these changes.

Outside of specific geographic areas, this plan would also impact population centers with a density of at least 5,000 residents per square mile. The boundaries would be modified to reflect population change every 10 years, based on U.S. census data.