Zoning. Zoning ordinances are parcel specific regulations that implement the land use policies set out in the general and community plans. The zoning typically limits what can be built on individual parcel according to three dimensions – use, bulk, and impact.
The Los Angeles Planning Zoning Code is part of the Municipal Code and is available on-line through a link on the Planning Department's web site (http://cityplanning.lacity.org). You can look up the zoning for any particular parcel of land on ZIMAS, the Planning Department's on-line service. Please note that not all applicable zoning information for individual parcels is available on-line.
Zoning is updated as part of implementing revisions to the Community Plans or when a property owner requests it. In either case, the rezoning needs to comply with the General Plan, requires public hearings and approval by the City Council.
Land Use. The most basic characteristic of zoning is "use." Use defines the type of development that can occur in a neighborhood or district. Zoning districts are most commonly referred to by their use, such as single-family or multi-family residential, commercial, industrial or open space.
For many years, zoning was primarily used to maintain rigid separation between different land uses — to keep industrial and commercial development away from residential. This emphasis on separating activities has given us the office park, shopping mall, industrial park and residential subdivision.
Urban planners now realize that such rigid separation has prevented the development of familiar and highly desired neighborhood forms — like the traditional main street. Los Angeles' zoning code has since evolved to allow mixing of compatible uses such as stores, apartments and offices. For example, it is permissible to build residential buildings along with retail on commercially zoned land in Los Angeles.
Development that combines housing, stores and/or offices is called mixed-use development. The General Plan Framework calls for encouraging mixed-use development in walkable districts in areas with good public transit as a way to promote more housing production.
Not all land uses are appropriate or desirable for mixed-use development. As such, Los Angeles' zoning code still separates single-family zones from apartment buildings and keeps heavy industrial uses separate from everything else.
