Applications Open for General Plan Advisory Committee
The City of Lomita is now accepting applications for the General Plan Advisory Committee (GPAC)! While general public comment will be solicited throughout the project, this ad-hoc committee’s role is to provide feedback and recommendations to guide Lomita’s new General Plan for the City’s future development. City Council will select members of the public to form the committee, who will work with our project consultant, City staff, Planning Commission, and City Council to ensure that we consider all perspectives throughout the planning process.
What is the General Plan?
Simply put, the purpose of a General Plan is to guide City planning decisions. The document expresses the community’s development goals and embodies public policy relative to the distribution of future land uses, both public and private. Under State law, subdivisions, capital improvements, development agreements, and many other land use actions must be consistent with the adopted General Plan, which consists of several elements. The General Plan’s Land Use Element reflects the community’s vision, promoting thoughtful, equitable, and accessible distribution of different land uses, including residential, commercial, industrial, agricultural, and open space, and shall align with the other general plan elements. The Noise Element contains a set of goals, policies and implementation measures to limit noise exposure, particularly in areas with nearby housing, hospital, school or daycare center uses. The Circulation Element is a strategy addressing infrastructure needs for the circulation of people, goods, energy, water, sewage, storm drainage, and communications and must correlate directly with the Land Use Element. The Open Space and Conservation Element identifies areas that provide value in an essentially undeveloped condition and creates a plan to preserve such areas. The open space portion reinforces conservation by guiding the comprehensive and long-range preservation of open space lands that are important to the conservation of the City’s natural resources (land, water, ecosystem services, and living resources). The Economic Development Element will be updated throughout all Elements while the Housing Element and Safety Element were updated and adopted within the past two years. For more details, please visit lomitacity.com/general-plan/.
Lomita most recently updated its full General Plan in 1998 – 25 years ago – and since then, a lot has changed. Our population has grown by 2.5%. Development patterns and the range of housing types have transformed. Downtown Lomita has come to life. The City is diversifying in both population and businesses alike. The COVID-19 pandemic has brought about new practices and uses that have yet to be incorporated into the city’s regulations. New modes of transportation exist and previously considered modes have increased in popularity. Traffic along commercial corridors such as Pacific Coast Highway, Lomita Boulevard, and Western Avenue has grown, also increasing the number of visitors to the City. Last, the Legislature has adopted numerous local requirements with which the City must comply. Lomita’s certified Housing Element projects over 1,000 new housing units across the current planning period which runs through 2029 and the City must thoroughly evaluate the impacts of such growth on the community.
The focus of the Update is to respond to changes in the community and in circumstances that affect the future shape of Lomita. A comprehensive visioning process and public engagement program will ensure that all facets of the community have a voice in shaping Lomita’s future. The entire process is expected to take approximately 2-3 years.
Who is the GPAC?
Meeting eight times within the next year, the GPAC will review and provide feedback on the consultant’s evaluation of growth alternatives and policy options for the General Plan. The GPAC is intended to represent a cross-section of the Lomita community, such as:
- Parks and Recreation Commission
- Public Safety and Traffic Commission
- Lomita Chamber of Commerce/businesses
- Long-time and newer residents
- Multiple generations
- Real estate industry
- Development community
- School district
- Fire and/or Police Department
Current Planning Commissioners and City Council Members are not eligible to serve on the GPAC as these entities will have their own role in the process.
To apply for an official role on the GPAC, please email L.Abbott@lomitacity.com or fill out an application at City Hall (24300 Narbonne Avenue).
Applications due May 24, 2023.
