The City of Long Beach is looking to rezone parts of the Anaheim and Pacific Coast Highway commercial corridors and is inviting residents to weigh in at a series of community meetings in July.
The Zone In: City Core effort, previously known as the Anaheim Corridor Zoning Implementation Plan (ACZIP), will reimagine zoning and development regulations to support new housing options, commercial projects and pedestrian-friendly sites in the project area.
The zoning effort focuses on the area bounded by Pacific Coast Highway, 10th Street, Magnolia and Ximeno Avenues.
The Department of Development Services has already made headway on community input for the zoning, holding a series of community listening sessions earlier this year.
“It’s really been about understanding the people’s aspirations for this part of Long Beach, what they see as challenges and how those might be addressed,” Deputy Director of Development Services Christopher Koontz said. “So that helps us form the big picture.”
“You can’t necessarily do everything perfectly all at once, but you try to balance that out and come up with something that’s achievable and the right kind of balance.”
—Deputy Director of Development Services Christopher Koontz
The three upcoming community listening sessions will focus on technical work, figuring out how to put the zones together in a way that incentivizes development but adheres to the community’s vision for the area.
“That’s where aspiration meets reality,” Koontz said.
In the upcoming listening sessions, Koontz hopes to hear about current challenges and where community members are willing to compromise. For example, the plan could include more residential zoning for housing, but the buildings might have to be taller to incentivize developers to actually build them.
“People want great places to gather, they want places to shop and eat, but they also want to maintain some legacy businesses and connections to the past. They want housing to be affordable but they’re also concerned about traffic and negative outcomes,” Koontz said. “You can’t necessarily do everything perfectly all at once, but you try to balance that out and come up with something that’s achievable and the right kind of balance.”
The City’s Land Use Element, which was completed in 2019, gave the department basic rules to work with: such as the number of stories allowed, which types of housing or commercial uses are allowed, and other basic zoning regulations.
“But it really doesn’t get into, ‘What will the buildings look like? What is the right combination of carrots and sticks to get there?’” Koontz explained.
The community is invited to learn more about the zoning effort and provide input by participating in one of three in-person meetings presented by the Long Beach Development Services Department. Interpretation will be provided in Spanish and Khmer. The events will feature free childcare services, food, games and giveaways for attendees.
- Thursday, July 14, 2022, 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. — Orizaba Park, 1435 Orizaba Ave.
- Wednesday, July 20, 2022, 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. — 14th Street Park, Cedar Avenue and West 14th Street
- Saturday, July 30, 2022, 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. — MacArthur Park, 1321 E. Anaheim St.
Those who are unable to attend these meetings in person are urged to participate by filling out an online survey available in English, Spanish and Khmer. Survey participants will be entered into an opportunity drawing to win a $50 gift card. The survey will be available until Aug. 19.
Zoning determines what Anaheim and PCH will look like in ‘10, 15, 20 years’
Zoning is the way that the City creates opportunities for developers to build new structures, like multi-story housing complexes and new retail spaces. Community input will help shape what goes where.
For example, a plot zoned for mixed-use could become home to a three-story building with retail on the ground floor and residential units on the top floors, similar to those which exist in Downtown thanks to the Downtown Plan—which included plenty of mixed-use zoning.
Even then, it took years after the Downtown Plan was adopted for new buildings to be completed.
“When we talk about Anaheim or we talk about PCH, there will be changes quickly but we’re also talking about changes that will take place over 10, 15, 20 years,” Koontz said. “But that long term process of change starts somewhere. It starts here. It starts with changing zoning regulations.”
With information from previous listening sessions in tow, Koontz said his understanding is that the community has a strong vision for the corridors, especially Cambodia Town.
“They want to see Cambodia Town be a destination, as well as locally-serving,” Koontz said. “Serving existing residents and making sure we have housing at all levels of affordability, and goods and services. But really also a physical and cultural destination for the city.”
The department will use input from the listening sessions to come up with ideas and test them on theoretical projects—“That looks beautiful, but would that pencil out for a potential development?,” Koontz said.
The iterative process will continue through the summer and into early fall, at which point the department will come back to the community for additional comment.
By the end of 2023, Development Services will begin to tack down the final zoning. It will then go to the Planning Commission in spring of 2023 and then to the Long Beach City council around July 2023 for final approval.
For more information about the City Core: Zone In effort, visit the Long Beach Development Servies Department website.
