Venice : Development Controls Gain

A Los Angeles City Council committee has approved temporary controls on development in Venice, including two key provisions that were deleted by the Planning Commission last month.

The controls, intended to limit new construction for one year while city officials devise permanent planning guidelines for the beach community, must also be approved by the City Council and by Mayor Tom Bradley.

The three-member Planning and Environment Committee voted unanimously Tuesday to approve the curbs, which would reduce height and density limits in an area bounded by Marine Street on the north, Washington Street and Via Marina on the south, Lincoln Boulevard and Via Dolce on the east and the Pacific Ocean on the west.

Venice-area Councilwoman Ruth Galanter, a member of the committee, amended the so-called interim control ordinance to include parking and lot-consolidation requirements that had been rejected by the Planning Commission. The amendments prohibit developers from combining more than two lots for a project, and require new commercial and residential projects near the beach to provide extra guest parking spaces.