City of los angeles general plan

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CITY OF LOS ANGELES CONSERVATION ELEMENT

Adopted September 2001

II-13

California native oaks. The only plant group specifically protected by

city ordinance is native oaks. The ordinance prohibits destruction of

the Valley oak (Quercus lobata) and California live oak (Quercus

agrifolia) and any tree of the oak genus indigenous to California which

measures eight inches or more in diameter four and one-half feet above

the ground (Ordinance No. 153,478). It excludes scrub oaks (Quercus

dumosa aka Quercus herberidifolia) and nursery grown oaks. The

Department of Public Works enforces the ordinance. The Department of

City Planning may authorize removal or relocation relative to

subdivision permits. Public works, as the primary enforcement agency,

has the authority to authorize relocation or removal under certain

circumstances, such as public endangerment.

El Segundo Blue butterfly. The largest known population of the

endangered butterfly is located in a portion of El Segundo Dunes, which

lie west of the Los Angeles International Airport. The butterfly was

threatened with extinction due to urban encroachment, including homes

and introduction of non-native plants that threatened to eliminate the

buckwheat and other native vegetation on which the butterfly thrives.

Two preserves were created on airport and Chevron refinery lands in the

1980s. The sites are restricted from general public access. They have

been cleared of much of the introduced vegetation and replanted,

resulting in a regeneration of the native plants. The airport

department estimates that the butterfly population on its property has

increased from 500 to between 40,000 and 50,000 El Segundo Blues since

1985. The figure fluctuates annually depending upon the weather and

growth of the plants on which the blues depend.

Conclusion. The city has a primary role in protecting endangered and

other at risk plant and animal species.

Continuing issues:

N

 Loss of native species unique to the Los Angeles environs.

N

 Loss of sensitive species.

N

 Loss of habitats that contribute to the healthy propagation of unique

native and migratory species.

Endangered species objective, policies and programs (see also Habitats

Section):

Objective: protect and promote the restoration, to the greatest extent

practical, of sensitive plant and animal species and their habitats.

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CITY OF LOS ANGELES CONSERVATION ELEMENT

Adopted September 2001

II-14

Policy 1: continue to require evaluation, avoidance, and minimization

of potential significant impacts, as well as mitigation of unavoidable

significant impacts on sensitive animal and plant species and their

habitats and habitat corridors relative to land development activities.

Program: Permit processing, monitoring, enforcement and periodic

revision of regulations and procedures. 

Responsibility: departments of *Building and Safety and

*City Planning, Environmental Affairs and the *lead agency

responsible for city project implementation.

Policy 2: continue to administer city-owned and managed properties so

as to protect and/or enhance the survival of sensitive plant and animal

species to the greatest practical extent.

Program 1: environmentally sensitive property management.

Responsibility: *agencies responsible for property

management, especially the departments of Airports, Harbor,

Public Works and Recreation and Parks, and Water and Power.

Program 2: local, state and international endangered species

protection, propagation and survival enhancement programs. 

Responsibility: *Los Angeles Zoo and *agencies that

participate specific programs (e.g., departments of Airports

and Harbor).

Policy 3: continue to support legislation that encourages and

facilitates protection of endangered, threatened, sensitive and rare

species and their habitats and habitat corridors.

Program: City legislative program.

Responsibility: *Mayor and *City Council (and City

Legislative Analyst).

For related information see: Habitats Section.

SECTION 7: EQUINE AREAS

One of the unique features of highly urbanized Los Angeles is its

equine areas, which are located mostly on the fringes of the San

Fernando Valley and Santa Monica Mountains, where there is access to

mountain trail systems. Horsepower was the primary means of locomotion

until the early part of the 20th century when automotive and rail

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CITY OF LOS ANGELES CONSERVATION ELEMENT

Adopted September 2001

II-15

transportation rapidly transformed Los Angeles from a rural to an urban

economy. Ranches and farmlands disappeared. Equine routes were paved or

abandoned. Equines for work uses gave way to equines for show, film,

recreational, therapeutic and educational purposes. Throughout the

century the number and size of equine keeping areas continued to shrink

until they were threatened with extinction, largely due to encroachment

from development, especially development of non-animal keeping

residential projects.

Zoning/K supplemental use district. To protect the equine uses and to

encourage establishment of new uses, equines (horses, donkeys, mules)

were specifically permitted by right on lots zoned for agricultural

uses and on certain large lot (17,500 square feet or more) residential

uses. However, zoning and county health code regulations contributed to

a continuing loss of equine uses. The laws were intended to protect

non-equine residential uses from animal impacts, e.g., odor, dust,

health and safety concerns.

To reduce the impact of health code regulations on existing equine

uses, the 'K' Equinekeeping District enabling provisions (LAMC Section

13.05) were enacted (1964). The intent of the K District supplemental

use designation is to better protect existing equine areas and to

encourage establishment of new equinekeeping areas. The provisions have

been amended many times to strengthen equine protection and make it

easier to establish K Districts. Less restrictive land use regulations

apply to lots in K Districts than to those in non-K areas. A new

district can be as small as five acres and may include several

contiguous ownerships. For current K Districts see Exhibit B. 

Today equine uses have recognized rights vis-a-vis residential uses and

improved dust control and odor technology enables them to be more

compatible with residential uses. Prior to the 1970s, health and other

regulations required that equine uses be moved 75 feet from dwellings,

even if they were established prior to the dwelling. If the equine use

could not be moved, it was terminated. Forced termination threatened

the viability of some K Districts and eliminated many other equine

uses.

In the 1970s zoning laws were changed to protect legally established

equine uses from encroachment. Equine uses in K Districts may remain

and the use may be modified if a dwelling is located between 75 and 35

feet of the equine use. In non-K Districts a legal equine was permitted

to remain but became nonconforming. Nonconformity limits modification

of the equine use. 

In 1986 discretionary permits were required for dwellings proposed for

location closer than the health department's 35-foot limit to a legal

equine use. A zoning administrator must consider the hardship to both

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