Connect Southwest LA Specific Plan is a Transit Oriented District (TOD) Specific Plan for West Athens-Westmont adopted in 2019. It is one of 11 TODs identified by the Los Angeles County 2035 General Plan (General Plan) for future specific plan development in order to address each community’s needs and priorities in regard to land use, mobility, housing, infrastructure, open spaces, and market conditions. Each of the TOD Specific Plans offer the opportunity to leverage the community’s assets, connect uses and activities, and attract future investment to create more engaging and vibrant places.
What is a Transit Oriented District (TOD)?
Transit Oriented Districts (TODs) are areas within a 1/2-mile radius from a major transit stop that have development and design standards, and incentives to facilitate transit-oriented development. Urban and suburban areas with access to major transit and commercial corridors have the most potential for infill development. Transit-oriented development is well-suited for higher density housing and mixed uses with nodes of commercial, employment, and civic activities. Transit-oriented development in urban and suburban areas connects neighborhoods, and community and employment centers through a broad network of pedestrian, bicycle, transit, and roadway facilities.
The following goals guide each TOD Specific Plan:
- Increase walking, bicycling, and transit ridership and reduce vehicle miles travelled (VMTs);
- Facilitate compact, mixed use development;
- Increase economic activity;
- Facilitate the public investment of infrastructure improvements;
- Streamline the environmental review process for future infill development projects.
What is a Specific Plan?
A Specific Plan is one of several policy or regulatory tools used by local governments to guide community development. While the General Plan sets forth goals, objectives, policies, and programs for the entire jurisdiction, the Specific Plan does so for a localized area and in greater detail. The authority for preparing a Specific Plan is in the California Government Code §§ 65450 through 65457. The law allows but does not require the planning agency to prepare and adopt Specific Plans for the systematic execution of the General Plan. According to state law, all Specific Plans must be consistent with the adopted General Plan, and all subdivision and development activity must be consistent with the Specific Plan.
