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Building a Better Westchester-Playa (BaBWP) is an organization of neighbors advocating for local affordable housing and land use decisions that foster racial and socio-economic diversity, environmental sustainability, and greater community well-being.

Latest Posts...

LAX New Roadway? Bad Plan.

Work-to-Date
April 24, 2026

LAX's Sepulveda roadway improvement plan. It's a bureaucratic zombie project with momentum based on reality 10+ years ago, pre-COVID. We can't stop it. But BaBWP

CPU DEIR: BaBWP’s Public Comment on Study Scope

CPU
March 23, 2026

The next step in the Westchester-Playa CPU process? Planning will be drafting an Environmental Impact Report (DEIR), and to kick off the process they asked

8820 Sepulveda Blvd (ED1 100% Affordable) PENDING

Build
March 15, 2026

Building type: ED1 100% Affordable with some Commercial on 1st floor

Work To Date...

Our group has committed to values of transparency and accountability. Therefore, we publish the work we’ve done in this library, which is easily searchable by tags and key words.

LAX New Roadway? Bad Plan.

LAX’s Sepulveda roadway improvement plan. It’s a bureaucratic zombie project with momentum based on reality 10+ years ago, pre-COVID. We can’t stop it. But BaBWP wanted to go on record questioning serious flaws in the proposals logic and value. This is our Public Statement plus a Backgrounder we prepped to illustrate how plan details led to our take.

April 24, 2026

11/17 CALL TO ACTION! Correct Federal $ for Homeless Housing, Services & Vouchers

11/17 Call to Action! NO on new Federal policy re grants for homeless housing, services and voucher programs. Call or email key Congressional contacts now! (By 11/20 if possible.)

November 18, 2025

Motion Proposed: Support 1st Floor Commercial in new Downtown Projects

BaBWP presentation to NC-PLUC on 4/8/25: encouraging NC to task CD11 staff to work with Planning, support enforcement of Downtown Westchester’s CDO requirement: first floor commercial-only use.

April 15, 2025

LAX New Roadway? Bad Plan.

April 24, 2026

11/17 CALL TO ACTION! Correct Federal $ for Homeless Housing, Services & Vouchers

11/17 Call to Action! NO on new Federal policy re grants for homeless housing, services and voucher programs. Call or email key Congressional contacts now! (By 11/20 if possible.)

November 18, 2025

Motion Proposed: Support 1st Floor Commercial in new Downtown Projects

BaBWP presentation to NC-PLUC on 4/8/25: encouraging NC to task CD11 staff to work with Planning, support enforcement of Downtown Westchester’s CDO requirement: first floor commercial-only use.

April 15, 2025

Livable Communities Intro Zoom! Monday 3/31 @ 7pm…Please RSVP

Zoom intro meeting to learn about the work of the Livable Communities Initiative, working to create 15-minute bikeable neighborhoods in LA.

March 29, 2025

CityView: BaBWP Support Letter + Email Comment Info

BaBWP has expressed it’s support for this project in a letter to Planning we have published here. Also in this post: instructions on how to submit Public Comment up through Wednesday, February 12th.

February 6, 2025

BaBWP Public Comment Correcting Factual Errors (NC Board Agenda Attachment)

For the 2025-02-04 meeting of the NC Board, BaBWP submitted public comment to correct factual errors sited to support the claim that “we are being set up to become the Westside’s containment zone for homeless.”

February 5, 2025

ED1: NC Board 2025-01 Meeting Public Comment

For the 2025-01-14 meeting of the NC Board, BaBWP submitted public comment to clarify support for ED1 affordable housing in the community.

January 14, 2025

ED1 Tutorial NC-PLUC Presentation on 11/19/24

On Tuesday, Nov 19, 2024 Building a Better Westchester-Playa presented a tutorial to the NC-PLUC** on the current status of Mayor Karen Bass’s “Executive Directive 1.”

November 20, 2024

Intro: Our CPU Map 3 Report

This introductory post provides background on how the BaBWP team reviewed and compared CPU Draft 2 and 3 Maps.

November 13, 2024

CPU Edit 1: Manchester West

Our map change recommendations for the west end of Manchester (btwn Pershing & Lincoln)

November 12, 2024

CPU Edit 2: Metro Area

Our map change recommendations for the areas close to the Veterans Metro station.

November 11, 2024

CPU Edit 3: Ladera

Our map change recommendations for Ladera.

November 10, 2024

CPU Edit 4: Arizona Circle

Our map change recommendations for Arizona Circle.

November 9, 2024

CPU Edit 5a: Loyola Village

Our map change recommendations for Loyola Village.

November 8, 2024

CPU Edit 5b: La Tijera @ Manchester

Our map change recommendations for the area near the intersection of La Tijera and Manchester.

November 7, 2024

CPU Edit 5c: Manchester East

Our map change recommendations for Manchester Ave btwn Sepulveda and Police Academy (Osage Ave).

November 6, 2024

CPU Edit R1-1: Collector Streets

Proposal #1: transitional up-zoning of R1 parcels @ Collector Street intersections. (1200+ new units.)

November 5, 2024

CPU R1-2: Perimeters

Proposal #2: transitional up-zoning of perimeter neighborhood R1 parcels. (912 new units.)

November 4, 2024

CPU R1-3: Arterial Intersections

Proposal #3 : transitional up-zoning of R1 parcels @ neighborhood street/arterial intersections. (93 more housing units.)

November 3, 2024

For Your Information...

Our City’s Planning and Land Use Policy development process is complex and sometimes opaque, making it hard for Westchester-Playa stakeholders to understand what’s going on. These posts aim to improving public access to important general news and information.

RAND Homelessness Survey: While #s are Down, Rough Sleepers Our Next Challenge

RAND released its annual in-person interview study documenting homelessness service and policy improvements and challenges. Focusing on Hollywood, Skid Row and Venice, the report warns: “rough sleeper” population requires service delivery modifications.

September 11, 2025

UCLA Study: 46% of CD11 residents support more multi-family housing.

UCLA Lewis Center 8/12/25 report confirms: nearly half of CD11 residents are in favor of more multi-family housing to help ease LA’s housing crunch. If you are pro-housing, you are not alone!

September 3, 2025

Your Feedback? Neighborhood Council Voting Experience Survey

LA’s s Dept of Neighborhood Empowerment wants community’s stakeholder feedback (via a quick survey) regarding your 2025 voter experience. You can find the survey link in this post!

August 1, 2025

UCLA Study: West LA RV and Vehicle Dwellers Survey

RV and vehicle dwelling in CD11 is a much-discussed challenge to homelessness resolution. However, rarely to we hear from these residents themselves. This UCLA Luskin survey provides hard data, supporting a more nuanced discussion of the topic.

July 30, 2025

6/5 Town Hall – Traci Park: ED1 Clarifications

Councilwoman Park underscored several important points regarding Executive Directive 1 (ED1) 100% Affordable housing, whether in Westchester or anywhere in the City.

June 13, 2025

6/5 Town Hall Correction: ED1 project map missing 2 projects.

Town Hall map correction: the ED1 project map shown in the 6/5/25 Town Hall showed a total of 4 ED1 projects. In fact there are 6 in our area.

June 13, 2025

6/5 Town Hall Correction: ED1 projects have 60 day approval target, but most take longer

Town Hall data point correction: while ED1 policy states a target of approval in 60 days. However, data shows Westchester’s first 4 ED1 projects took longer.

June 13, 2025

6/5 Town Hall Omission: ED1 projects in Downtown Westchester are not CDO compliant

Town Hall data point omission: it was not pointed out that two pending Downtown Westchester ED1 projects are not CDO compliant.

June 13, 2025

June 5 @ 6pm: Virtual CD11 Town Hall on Local Housing & Development

Be sure to RSVP! A unique opportunity to hear our Council rep’s POV on local housing and development issues, trends and policies

May 30, 2025

Tracking 2025-2026 City Budget Crisis Impact on Planning

Monitoring City budget cuts and their impact on future affordable housing plus Community Plan Update processes.

May 23, 2025

Chart: Planning Dept Processes for Three Types of Affordable Housing

Planning application processing for affordable housing projects has gotten a bit more confusing with ED1. This chart clarifies how it works.

January 30, 2025

Local ED1 Pipeline as of 30-Jan-2025

Updated on 30 Jan 2025. This map shows current and possible ED1 projects for 90045. At this time, no ED1 project applications have been submitted for PDR, Ladera or PV.

January 30, 2025

How to Find ED1 Planning Dept Project Files Online

Mayor Bass’s Executive Directive 1 (ED1) 100% affordable residential projects proposed to the Planning Department can be found online. This is a quick tutorial on how to navigate to those records.

December 14, 2024

CHIP Status: Moves from City Council to City Attorney

Regularly updated notes on next steps for review of this draft ordinance, due to be finalized before the Feb-2024 State deadline re LA’s improved housing capacity.

December 13, 2024

CHIP Ordinance Timeline

Regularly updated notes on the review journey of this draft ordinance. City’s goal: to have this ordinance in place before the State Feb-2025 deadline re additional housing.

September 6, 2024

Resident Protections Ordinance

Quick overview: LA Planning Dept recently shared this new draft ordinance (with link): “The Resident Protections Ordinance would establish consistent protections for residents…”

August 30, 2024

Sites + Minimum Density Ordinance

Quick overview: LA Planning recently shared this information on this draft ordinance (with link) “intended to enact state housing element law for different types …”

August 30, 2024

Tutorial: CHIP Ordinance

Quick overview: Planning recently shared this information on this draft ordinance (with link). “The Citywide Housing Incentive Program (CHIP) Ordinance proposes several new programs that…”

August 29, 2024

LAX Employee Housing Challenge

Westchester-Playa hosts LAX and manages a number of challenges related to the airport. Passenger traffic impacts are the most obvious. But there are other very significant…

August 28, 2024

2024 Housing Applications Down

The LA Planning Department produces a monthly newsletter. In it, they report housing application data, and for the first half of 2024, trends overall are declining…

August 27, 2024

Case in LA: Affordable Adaptive Reuse

To get a sense of how much is going with LA’s new adaptive reuse program for creating new housing, one thing you can do is search “Adaptive Reuse” on Urbanize.LA.com…

August 27, 2024

Tutorial: Adaptive Reuse 101

In their August 2024 Market Report, the CommercialEdge real estate blog confirms Los Angeles is clocking in at 24-25% vacant rates. That translates to some 83 million sq feet…

August 26, 2024

RAND Homelessness Survey: While #s are Down, Rough Sleepers Our Next Challenge

September 11, 2025

UCLA Study: 46% of CD11 residents support more multi-family housing.

UCLA Lewis Center 8/12/25 report confirms: nearly half of CD11 residents are in favor of more multi-family housing to help ease LA’s housing crunch. If you are pro-housing, you are not alone!

September 3, 2025

Your Feedback? Neighborhood Council Voting Experience Survey

LA’s s Dept of Neighborhood Empowerment wants community’s stakeholder feedback (via a quick survey) regarding your 2025 voter experience. You can find the survey link in this post!

August 1, 2025

Community Plan Update...

Currently LA City Planning is putting the entire Westside—including Westchester-Playa—through a Community Plan Update (CPU) process. When approved by City Council (projected for 2026-2027), the final Westchester-Playa CPU legally memorializes updated land use policy and zoning codes. These posts aim to improve stakeholder access to important CPU news and information.

CPU DEIR: BaBWP’s Public Comment on Study Scope

The next step in the Westchester-Playa CPU process? Planning will be drafting an Environmental Impact Report (DEIR), and to kick off the process they asked for public input. Specifically, what topics must be included in the report’s scope. BaBWP made public comment not about specific topics, but about the need to include overlapping info from LAX’s EIRs and new State law mandates.

March 23, 2026

CPU Draft EIR Is Here! Intro Zoom Sessions: 3/4/26 & 3/12/26

The Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR) is coming. Planning hosting two public intro zooms (March 4 & 12). Public Comment open until March 23, 2026 @ 5pm.

March 1, 2026

Draft 4 CPU Map Changes / Executive Summary

In 11/25, Planning released Draft 4 maps for our community’s CPU. This content: BaBWP’s Change Analysis report, originally developed for 11/25 meetings with CD11 and Planning.

March 1, 2026

Draft 4 CPU Map / Residential Changes

In 11/25, Planning released Draft 4 maps for our community’s CPU. This content: BaBWP’s Change Analysis report regarding updates to RESIDENTIAL zoning.

March 1, 2026

Draft 4 CPU Map / Commercial Change

In 11/25, Planning released Draft 4 maps for our community’s CPU. This content: BaBWP’s Change Analysis report regarding updates to MIXED-USE COMMERCIAL zoning.

March 1, 2026

Draft 4 CPU Map / Industrial Change

In 11/25, Planning released Draft 4 maps for our community’s CPU. This content: BaBWP’s Change Analysis report regarding updates to INDUSTRIAL zoning.

March 1, 2026

Next-Draft CPU Maps Expected October 2025

The latest from our CPU Planning team: the Planning Dept budget has been resolved, we keep our Planning team and draft maps are expected to be released in 2025!

October 15, 2025

LA’s Housing Target

Ultimately what’s driving LA’s push to up-zone more land parcels to create more housing units in the future?…

August 27, 2024

Current Community Plan (2004)

Here you’ll find links to the active Westchester-Playa Community Plan Update, completed in 2004…

August 27, 2024

CPU Draft 3 Maps Access

Currently, Westchester-Playa is part of LA Planning Department’s larger effort titled Planning the Westside…

August 13, 2024

CPU DEIR: BaBWP’s Public Comment on Study Scope

March 23, 2026

CPU Draft EIR Is Here! Intro Zoom Sessions: 3/4/26 & 3/12/26

The Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR) is coming. Planning hosting two public intro zooms (March 4 & 12). Public Comment open until March 23, 2026 @ 5pm.

March 1, 2026

Draft 4 CPU Map Changes / Executive Summary

In 11/25, Planning released Draft 4 maps for our community’s CPU. This content: BaBWP’s Change Analysis report, originally developed for 11/25 meetings with CD11 and Planning.

March 1, 2026

Local Build Projects...

Given Westchester-Playa’s strategic and desirable location, there are always future building projects in the City Planning pipeline. These posts aim to provide visibility into the Planning process and keep a rolling report on the status of specific projects.