Long Beach Zoning

Dyett & Bhatia was selected by the City of Long Beach to conduct a technical and policy analysis of the City of Long Beach Zoning Code in spring 2017. The analysis served as a basis for proposing changes to update and improve the Conditional Use Permit requirements and procedures and related planning and zoning regulations. The objective was to improve the requirements for discretionary use permits with respect to issues such as timeliness, predictability, and cost while still addressing community concerns about the possible negative effects that may be generated by some business activities.

The project began with a technical review of the current zoning provisions and a series of interviews with small business owners, architects, developers, business organization representatives, and City staff. In addition, D&B collected information about the regulatory requirements and practices employed by four peer communities to identify approaches that may work for Long Beach. The findings were presented to the City along with recommendations for zoning revisions followed by presentation to the community and the Planning Commission. The City Council proposed code amendments to the Commission for public hearings by the end of 2017 followed by City Council action in early 2018.

Dyett & Bhatia also assisted the City by reviewing and made recommendations for revising a number of other zoning provisions that the City Council adopted in 2018 and 2019 to streamline and modernize zoning regulations and eliminate inconsistencies with State and federal requirements.