{"id":56198,"date":"2014-09-24T15:15:18","date_gmt":"2014-09-24T22:15:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/theavtimes.com\/?p=56198"},"modified":"2014-09-24T15:16:23","modified_gmt":"2014-09-24T22:16:23","slug":"new-antelope-valley-area-plan-can-have-costly-consequences","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/2014\/09\/24\/new-antelope-valley-area-plan-can-have-costly-consequences\/","title":{"rendered":"New Antelope Valley Area Plan can have costly consequences"},"content":{"rendered":"

By the Greater Antelope Valley Association of REALTORS, Board of Directors<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\"Antelope<\/a>On Saturday, September 27, the Los Angeles County Regional Planning Commission is conducting a hearing that could be of consequence to property owners in the unincorporated portions of Antelope Valley wishing to develop their properties.<\/p>\n

The hearing will be held at the Antelope Valley College Performing Arts theatre at 10:00am.\u00a0 The location is 3041 W Avenue K. Lancaster, CA 93536.<\/p>\n

Why is this meeting so important and why are we encouraging citizens to attend?\u00a0 Decisions made on the AV Area-wide Plan and draft environmental impact report will largely determine the Valley\u2019s economic direction for decades.\u00a0 Of particular concern is what GAVAR, AVBOT and a Blue Ribbon Task Force see as \u2018over-reaching\u2019 in its designation of Significant Environmental Area\u2019s (SEA\u2019s) to the plan.<\/p>\n

BACKGROUND<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Los Angeles County, an area of approximately 4,083 square miles, is served by an oversight master policy document called the Los Angeles County General Plan.\u00a0 This document is used to guide future development and conservation throughout all the unincorporated areas of Los Angeles County.\u00a0 Within this umbrella plan, there are many \u201carea plans\u201d that further detail land use planning.<\/p>\n

Much of north L.A. County is unincorporated and includes over two dozen communities.\u00a0 The Antelope Valley accounts for approximately 1800 square miles and, by area, accounts for approximately 44% of L.A County.\u00a0 Some 75% of the unincorporated area in L.A. County is located in the Antelope Valley.\u00a0 For this reason, area-wide plans and the rules derived from their adoption are of utmost importance to the region.<\/p>\n

The existing Antelope Valley Area Plan (AVAP), called \u201cTown & Country\u201d was last adopted in 1986.\u00a0 A new area plan update is being developed to more accurately reflect regional growth, resource protection, state law, local ordinances and community vision.<\/p>\n

THE PROBLEM<\/strong><\/h3>\n

While the AVAP has always had an overlay of SEA\u2019s applied to approximately 250,000 acres, the new plan adds approximately 150,000 additional acres, designated SEA\u2019s, over the current plan.\u00a0 This has only been shown on the AVAP map since June of this year, with no community meetings held since that time, to explain, discuss or obtain local input regarding the expanded boundaries.\u00a0 Further, too many other plans are undergoing review simultaneously to adequately review and comment in a timely manner.\u00a0 (Examples:\u00a0 AV Area Plan; Significant Ecological Area ordinance (SEA); Hillside Management Area ordinance (HMA); Renewable Energy Implementing ordinance (REI), Climate Change Action Plan (CCAP) and the General Plan (GP) update).<\/p>\n

For this reason we request the removal of expanded SEA boundaries from the AVAP maps and recommend that there should be no SEA overlays in EOA set asides.\u00a0 Indeed, we\u2019d like the Department of Regional Planning and the Planning Commission to focus solely on the AVAP at this time and place a hold on all the above ordinances, pending plan approval by the L.A. County Board of Supervisors.<\/p>\n

OUR SUGGESTION<\/strong><\/h3>\n

So, what is an EOA?\u00a0 It\u2019s an Economic Opportunity Area.\u00a0 By applying this designation to key sections of north L.A. County, we concentrate potential development, appropriately, in key areas while preserving the rural nature of the region.\u00a0 Roughly, the Economic Opportunity Areas correspond to the High Desert Corridor, the Fox Field Industrial Corridor and the northwest\/Tejon corridor in L.A. County.\u00a0 Setting aside these EOA\u2019s and exempting them from SEA\u2019s is a balanced approach between preservation, appropriate growth and visionary land use planning.<\/p>\n

We anticipate many fiscal ramifications or consequences if the current plan is adopted, as is. Preserving the Antelope Valley by \u2018down zoning\u2019 can have the effect of reduced property values, reduced tax roll revenues and reduced development opportunities.\u00a0 Further, complying with the new SEA\u2019s will likely result in higher permitting costs and more complicated permitting procedures.<\/p>\n

We acknowledge the complexity of the issue being discussed in this letter but feel the outreach by county officials, regarding the SEA maps on the AVAP, to date, has been wholly inadequate.\u00a0 But for the fact that the consequences can be significant for many property owners, this issue warrants a full and open hearing and far greater community input.\u00a0 The current plan, at its heart, seems to pit \u2018property rights\u2019 against \u2018resource conservation\u2019.\u00a0 There is no reason these two interests can\u2019t be fully reconciled.<\/p>\n

Once adopted, rules codified in both the General Plan and Area Plan will impose standards that many property owners in unincorporated areas will find surprising or cumbersome or both.\u00a0 For this reason we\u2019re trying to apply the brakes.\u00a0\u00a0 We understand and approve of wise land use planning.\u00a0 But there\u2019s a difference between textbook planning and reality-based planning.\u00a0 At the least, issues and consequences should be fully vetted before implementation.\u00a0 The current schedule is not fully embracing that concept.<\/p>\n

An old Japanese proverb notes that vision without action is a daydream, while action without vision is a nightmare.\u00a0 Our preferred course is vision and action in balance.<\/p>\n

We encourage everyone to attend the Los Angeles County Regional Planning Commission hearing on Saturday, September 27.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By the Greater Antelope Valley Association of REALTORS, Board of Directors On Saturday, September 27, the Los Angeles County Regional Planning Commission is conducting a hearing that could be of consequence to property owners in the unincorporated portions of Antelope Valley wishing to develop their properties. The hearing will be held at the Antelope Valley […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":56201,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1480],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56198"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=56198"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56198\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/56201"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=56198"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=56198"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=56198"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}