An original copy of Los Angeles' 1946 Zoning Code. The code has swelled from 96 pages to more than 800. (Tim Logan / Los Angeles Times)

Los Angeles passed a law last year requiring bicycle racks within 50 feet of the front door of many new buildings. But a problem surfaced immediately: The federal Americans With Disabilities Act requires handicapped parking spaces with an easy path to the door clear of things like bikes.

The conflicting requirements — one in the city's building code, the other in its zoning code — left developers in a quandary, said Craig Lawson, a land use consultant who's seen several clients stumble on the rule. They could redesign the entryway of their building — no small task — or seek a variance to put the bike parking elsewhere, a costly process that can take months of hearings.

"Most projects try to avoid filing a variance unless absolutely necessary," he said. "It's the sort of thing that just needs to be fixed."

The two rules — both well-intentioned but at odds — are just one of countless contradictions embedded in Los Angeles' zoning code, the 800-plus-page document that governs what can be built where in the city, and what it should look like.

City planning officials are hoping to iron them out by rewriting the 70-year-old code, with an eye to making development here more predictable, less expensive and more in tune with the needs of a modern city....Continue Reading

> via LA Times