overlay district?

As a resident of USC off-campus housing, I recieved a notice in the mail recently from the LA Planning Department proposing an USC off-campus housing overlay district. there seems to be general confusion about what that technically means and surrounding city plans. It would be great to have more of a school presence in the area and a more college friendly neighborhood, but how exactly is the city/ USC planning to gain such a large area in regards to private rights and such? Will school housing be dispersed through out the district and private property? I hope that it doesn't resemble the 32nd St. Market to Superior Market switch that happened in the fall semester. I also don't understand how such a proposition could be considered "city initiated." I guess I will have to go to the public hearing to find out more. I searched online, but only found residents with similar concerns.

How would it affect preservation/architecture related things? I've looked a little on the internet and on the City Planning Homepage, and can't find anything explaining what this type of District means or how it affects buildings, residents, etc. or what it even means? Does it give USC some sort of weird power over buildings and residents as the name so implies? The area described in the map as part of the mailer is huge, between Normandie and the Harbor (110) Freeway, from the 10 Freeway to Martin Luther King Blvd. in the south. Has anyone heard of any other "off-campus overlay districts" or have any idea what that means?!?

(the USC campus is the big pentagon shape near the middle, and the dotted line is the proposed overlay district which currently consists of small corner shops, stores, private housing, churches, temples, and schools.)