Draft of 'City Core' Central Long Beach rezoning plan to be discussed at community meeting Thursday
The new zoning could determine the types of homes and businesses that would eventually be developed in the area.
The city has released draft maps of what zoning along multiple Central Long Beach corridors could look like in the future with increased opportunities for housing and commercial space and new bans on undesirable business types.
Long Beach launched its “Zone-in City Core” effort in early 2022 as a way to work with the community to reimagine what types of businesses and housing would be allowed in their communities going forward.
The “City Core” footprint spans from the Traffic Circle in the east to Magnolia Avenue in the west and includes stretches of Pacific Coast Highway, Anaheim Street and Tenth Street.
A virtual community meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. Thursday, April 11. Anyone interested in weighing in on the draft can register for the virtual meeting here.
Drafts of the plan show that the most intensive future mixed-use housing production would be allowed along PCH and Anaheim Street as well as near the Traffic Circle with smaller increases for future density along busy streets like Cherry, Redondo and Atlantic Avenues.
Mixed-used zoning could increase the amount of housing in the area while allowing for new businesses to open beneath homes, which city officials have said could make the area more walkable. Street improvements to enhance pedestrian safety were also part of the zoning process.
One of the key questions that city planners sought to have answered from residents throughout the process was: What types of neighborhood-serving businesses like grocery stores, banks and restaurants are lacking in the area?
City officials also hoped to identify the types of businesses that were over-concentrated in the area or no longer made sense with contemporary development.
Some of the draft zoning rules would place restrictions on things like car washes and towing services within the “City Core” area and would ban new developments of businesses like gas stations, pawn shops, check-cashing businesses and food establishments with drive-throughs.
An interactive map of the drafted changes can be found here.
