Woodland Hills committee finalizes plan for March town hall and open-house on general plan

The Woodland Hills Community Development Committee on Monday outlined the agenda, outreach and logistics for a city town hall and a public open house to present an updated general plan and gather neighborhood input.

Committee Chair Kirsten Thompson said the committee will coordinate with the city—s town-hall schedule so the community-development presentation follows the mayor and council updates, and that the public open house will include an hour-long presentation and breakout/visual-survey sessions. "I'll put something up about kind of an agenda so people know what to expect and the timelines," Thompson said.

The committee and staff discussed what to include in the presentation and in printed/poster materials: an explanation of "what is a general plan," basic state requirements (including affordable/moderate-income housing mandates), a brief history of Woodland Hills— prior plan, and regional context. Daniel (planner; last name not specified) described the proposed public engagement tools: conventional survey results plus a visual survey of images so attendees can indicate which types of housing, trails or parks they prefer. "Visual survey is, pick well, pictures. So they can look at images and then select which image they like," Daniel said.

Why it matters: committee members said visuals and word choice strongly shape how residents respond to questions about sidewalks, trails, housing density and commercial development. Several members…