Bellflower, California

BELLFLOWER , CAL I FORNI A authority – LA Metro. “Through that, we’re going to get a downtown Bellflower Blvd. light rail station,” says DellaLonga, “and we expect it to be a big part of the continued rejuvenation of that corridor, because the younger generation tends to use alternate forms of transportation, especially in southern California where it’s very automotive-centric. We’re known as ‘the land of the car’ with all the freeways, but that’s slowly changing, and we’re hoping that this can be a part of that change and help draw those types of individuals into our downtown. Just south of that station is the parking structure we’re working on and, just south of that, we are working with a developer to create 80 to 90 one-bedroom and two-bedroom apartment units, along with an art house theater and some commercial - essentially, a mixed-use, transit-oriented development which we’re hoping will be entitled by the end of the year, and a start on construction in late 2020.” One of the best attributes of business-friendly Bellflower is the city’s willingness to work with developers. It’s very innovative in that regard – one of the very few cities in the U.S. that does what’s called a Voluntary Building Self-Certification Program. In essence, when you come in to City Hall with a project, and you have your entitlements and are ready to pull building permits, instead of submitting your building plans to the building department for plan check (provided they are stamped and signed by a licensed professional architect or engineer), you have the option of turning those in for what is, essentially, a five-day turnaround; just to ensure that the plans are the same as what you were entitled for, and that all the Public Works Department requirements are included on those plans. DellaLonga notes, “You can get those plans back, typically, in five working days without going through plan check, and you’ll have building permits in hand. It saves developers a lot of time and money, just with the time it takes to turn these around, sometimes two or three reviews, before the plans are correct. You’re putting pictured The Exchange Tour Self-Certification pictured Parking structure