LA Approves Controversial 'Neighborhood Councils'

LOS ANGELES-The City Council here has approved the creation of up to 100 potentially powerful “neighborhood councils” to guide local development issues, casting aside complaints from builders that the measure will create endless new layers of costly red tape and scuttle many new projects.

The measure is designed to give LA’s nearly 4 million residents more power in decisions that would effect their respective neighborhoods, especially when it comes to new commercial real estate projects. The plan calls for the creation of up to 20 neighborhood groups over the next 12 months and as many as 100 in the next five years.

Though the new organizations won’t have the power to approve or reject development projects, their recommendations are expected to greatly influence how their local City Council representative votes on any given proposal. That’s because the City Council itself typically turns down development proposals that don’t have the support of the council member who reps the district in which the project would rise.