Significant Ecological Areas Ordinance Update receives Award of Excellence from American Planning Association Los Angeles
The Los Angeles County Department of Regional Planning has received the Award of Excellence by the Los Angeles Section of the American Planning Association (APA) for the comprehensive update to the Significant Ecological Areas (SEA) Ordinance. This award was received in the Innovation in Green Community Planning category, which honors efforts to create more sustainable and green communities that reduce the impact of development on the natural environment and improve environmental quality. The Ordinance was adopted unanimously by the Board of Supervisors on December 17, 2019 and regulates development within 411,727 acres of important natural lands in the unincorporated County areas. The SEA Ordinance Update reinvented and reinvigorated a 39-year old ordinance regulating development within SEAs by facilitating a balance between development and biological resource conservation. SEAs are officially designated areas within Los Angeles County with irreplaceable biological resources.
“We are honored to receive this recognition from the American Planning Association for the collaborative planning process that successfully led to the adoption of the SEA Ordinance Update,” said Amy J. Bodek, Los Angeles County Department of Regional Planning Director. “Guiding the development of the environment today will help protect Los Angeles County’s unique biodiversity for future generations.”
The SEA Ordinance Update was developed with the input from stakeholders representing local residents, building and real estate industry, and natural land conservancies. In addition to hosting public outreach meetings to educate stakeholders on the changes to the overhauled ordinance, focused outreach meetings were conducted with the special interest groups to address their concerns. Developing consensus occurred through an iterative process while maintaining the overall goal to maximize protection of biological resources.
“The task before the County was complex, with many competing interests. From EHL’s perspective, the SEA update was innovative in focusing on site design and the configuration of protected natural lands rather than on standard mitigation ratios. The revised ordinance rewarded projects which followed the site design with regulatory streamlining, which is also innovative. This produced “win-win” planning solutions.” – Dan Silver, Endangered Habitat’s League Executive Director
“We do not know of any other regional planning department that has taken such comprehensive action to protect its county’s most valuable and extensively biologically diverse environments. Los Angeles County is also geographically diverse: home to high mountain ranges, coastal and island areas, and high desert and valley areas that will see protections and preservation that would not happen otherwise.” – Susan Zahnter, Three Points-Liebre Mountain Town Council President
The SEA Ordinance Update improved upon the prior ordinance by emphasizing the need for public education, early guidance and biological review, and the application of certain development standards to balance the preservation of the County’s natural biodiversity with private property rights. The SEA Ordinance Update also provides additional protections for native trees that are important contributors to sustaining the SEAs. The development standards for the Update outlined design standards and environmental thresholds to cover a comprehensive array of land use factors: biological habitat resources, open space preservation, water resources, wildlife-permeable designs, and subdivision designs.
The SEA Ordinance serves as a model for other jurisdictions that are facing development pressures in wildland-urban interface and wish to protect important natural resources. The ordinance and the 130-page SEA Ordinance Implementation Guide provides invaluable information designed to assist in building a natural resource protection program.
