Most coverage of the draft Encino-Tarzana Community Plan has focused on one figure: 5 to 8 stories on Ventura Boulevard. Under the City's own comparison table, though, that range is a bonus. The base height in most Encino commercial areas changes from 45 feet to three stories. Taller buildings are possible, but each one depends on a developer choosing to qualify for a bonus. Before writing an offer near the boulevard, a buyer needs to know which tier their block sits in and what the lot behind their fence is zoned for. The city-wide height numbers won't tell them that.
The timing gives readers something to act on. On October 8, 2026, Los Angeles City Planning released the Draft Environmental Impact Report for the Southwest Valley Community Plans Update. That update covers the Encino-Tarzana plan along with Canoga Park-Winnetka-Woodland Hills-West Hills and Reseda-West Van Nuys. The 45-day public comment period ends Sunday, November 22, 2026, at 5 p.m. As this post goes out, that leaves about a month.
A plan written to keep growth on one street
Urbanize LA reported on October 15 that the land use rules now in force were last updated in the late 1990s. The update reached this stage after seven years of workshops and outreach. The Encino-Tarzana planning area alone covers about 13,007 acres.
The City states the main idea plainly. In its Areas of Change handout, Planning says the part of Ventura Boulevard west of the 405 "will be rezoned to accommodate greater levels of development, including housing, which will minimize development pressure on residential neighborhoods." The hillsides get the same protection. More than half of the Encino-Tarzana plan area is hillside, and the Hillsides handout says growth is steered away from those areas, grading is limited and open space is preserved. The Mulholland Scenic Parkway Specific Plan stays in effect as it is.
In practice, the plan concentrates change rather than spreading it. Most of Encino's residential streets and its hillside areas are set up to stay as they are because the boulevard is designated to take the growth. That is good news for a buyer on an interior street in the hills. A buyer whose lot backs onto the commercial strip is in a different position, and the rest of this post is about that position.
Base zoning versus bonus heights
The City's handout compares the current Ventura-Cahuenga Boulevard Corridor Specific Plan with the proposed plan for the three designations used along the boulevard.
| Designation | Base FAR, current to proposed | Base height, current to proposed | Bonus FAR, proposed | Bonus height, proposed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Community Center | 1–1.5:1 to 1.5:1 | 45 feet to 3 stories | 3–5:1 | 5–8 stories |
| Village | 1–1.5:1 to 1.5:1 | 45–75 feet to 3 stories | 4–4.5:1 | 5–7 stories |
| Regional Center | 1.5:1 to 1.5:1 | 75 feet to limited by FAR | 5–6:1 | Limited by FAR |
Start with the base FAR column. For a Regional Center parcel, it doesn't change at all. For the other two designations, the most it changes is from 1:1 to 1.5:1. Nearly all the added building size sits in the bonus columns. The handout also notes that sites eligible for the State Density Bonus can add another three stories and up to 3.0 FAR on top of that.
Projects reach the bonus tiers through a community benefits program. Urbanize LA describes it as offering development incentives in exchange for affordable housing or other public amenities. In the residential designations, the same handout spells out the condition: projects "would be required to provide on-site affordable units to access the bonus FAR and height." Each taller building therefore needs a developer, a site and a financing plan that make sense once those conditions are met. The map grants the right to apply. Whether anyone uses it depends on project economics.
The City's own capacity figures show how far permission runs ahead of demand. According to Urbanize LA, the three plan areas held roughly 72,000 homes as of 2024. The new zoning would allow more than 137,000 residential units. The Southern California Association of Governments projects about 88,000 homes in the same area by 2050. If zoned capacity is far larger than the expected need, the fact that a site is allowed to grow doesn't mean it will. Some sites will be redeveloped and most will not. That uneven pattern is why the analysis has to happen one parcel at a time.
Where the change is guaranteed: parking-only lots
One part of the draft does not depend on any bonus. Urbanize LA reports that about 6% of the land in the Southwest Valley plan area is zoned only for parking. The update removes that designation and rezones each of those lots to match the property next to it, which "would facilitate the redevelopment of larger automobile-oriented shopping centers along Reseda Boulevard, Ventura Boulevard, and Sherman Way."
For a house near the boulevard, this is the change that applies no matter what any developer decides. A lot that today can hold only parked cars would take on the zoning of the commercial frontage beside it. The draft materials released so far don't spell out stepbacks or height transitions where a former parking lot meets a single-family rear yard. Until zoning is adopted, the parcel map is the only reliable way to see what a specific lot would allow.
The plan text points in the same direction from the street side. The Encino-Tarzana policy document calls for pedestrian-oriented frontage with parking behind the buildings along Ventura. At Encino Commons, it discourages drive-throughs, vehicle repair and storage uses that work against pedestrian activity. The City's handout also lists design standards, active ground-floor uses and "a reduced prominence of parking" among the proposed rules. The boulevard the plan describes has buildings at the sidewalk and parking moved behind them, toward the residential lots.
The Draft EIR is direct about the cost of construction. It lists construction noise and vibration among the significant impacts it considers unavoidable. Owners on the boulevard's edge would be the ones living next to any project that does get built.
How the specific plan fits in
Encino buyers already know the Ventura-Cahuenga Boulevard Corridor Specific Plan, which governs properties facing the boulevard. City Planning says it was most recently updated by Ordinance 188,816, effective March 14, 2026. The Areas of Change handout says the portion of Ventura west of the 405 will be rezoned through this community plan update. Properties east of the freeway will be handled in the separate Southeast Valley update, and the specific plan's project impact assessment fee is being updated in a different work program. The same handout names the overlays that will remain in effect: the Van Nuys Airport Plan, Mulholland Scenic Parkway, Valley Circle/Plummer Street and Warner Center. Ventura-Cahuenga is not on that list. A comp from 2024 on the far side of the 405 may therefore have been governed by a different framework from the one being drafted for Encino.
Before writing an offer near Ventura
The City says that in many cases, the new zoning "will generally continue the existing land use permissions and potential building envelope." Whether a given home falls into that group or into an Opportunity Area takes about ten minutes to check:
- Open the City's interactive draft land use and zoning map and enter the address you're considering.
- Look up every parcel that shares a lot line with it, especially at the rear. Note any lot currently zoned for parking only, since its zoning would change to match its neighbor's.
- For each nearby Ventura frontage parcel, write down whether it's designated Regional Center, Community Center or Village, and compare it with the table above.
- Check whether the street itself is one of the alley-loaded corridors proposed for missing-middle housing. Those designations allow up to three stories and anywhere from one to ten units, on a sliding scale from 0.45 FAR for one unit to 2.00 FAR for ten.
- Read the draft plan documents on the project's official page. If you want to comment, do it before 5 p.m. on November 22.
Printed copies of the Draft EIR can be reviewed at City Planning, 6262 Van Nuys Blvd., Room 351, by appointment. Email [email protected] or call (213) 978-1194 to book one.
This post summarizes draft public documents. It is general information, not legal advice. For questions about a specific property, confirm with a land use attorney or City Planning directly.
Questions that come up
Is any of this in effect yet? No. The documents are drafts under environmental review. City Planning says the date of the public hearing will be announced in a separate notice at a later date.
Could a café open on a residential street? In some designations, yes. The draft would allow cafés, restaurants, small shops and salons in the Low Neighborhood Residential and Medium Neighborhood Residential designations. They would be capped at 2,000 or 3,000 square feet depending on location and would have limited hours.
What happens to hillside building rules? Under the Hillsides handout, the Baseline Hillside Ordinance rules would be folded into the new base zones. The Mulholland Scenic Parkway Specific Plan stays as it is.
If you're weighing a home within a block or two of Ventura Boulevard, Morgan Goldberg can go through the draft parcel map with you before you write an offer, so you know what the neighboring lots could become. Get First Access to Luxury Listings, along with a clear view of what may be built around them.
