After eight years of court battles, Rustic Canyon residents Mehr and Vickey Beglari have turned to the city to save their home at 909 Greentree Rd. Faced with a 2007 court order to remove 14 feet from their home, the Beglaris sought a variance. Last Thursday, they pleaded before Los Angeles Zoning Administrator Patricia Brown to permit the construction, use and maintenance of their home at a height of 39 feet 7 inches in lieu of the permitted 36 feet, and for a reduced front-yard setback of 14 feet in lieu of the prevailing setback. ‘We no longer want to deal with this emotional issue,’ Vickey Beglari said during the hearing at the West Los Angeles Municipal Building. The conflict began in 2001 when the Building and Safety Department approved construction of a 6,550-sq.-ft. addition to the Beglaris’ existing 2,000-sq.-ft. ranch house, but the neighbors surmised that the house was being built closer to the street than permitted by the city’s municipal code. Unable to stop the construction through the city, five former and current neighbors took the Beglaris and city to court. Orange County Superior Court Judge David Velasquez ruled in 2003 that the house did not comply with the zoning ordinance and ordered the city to revoke the Beglaris’ permits, including their certificate of occupancy. To bring their house into compliance, the Beglaris attempted to alter the prevailing setback (front-yard regulations based on an average for the street) by building a canopy on another house they owned at 921 Greentree. The city accepted the alteration and reissued the permits and certificate of occupancy. However, Velasquez ruled in September 2007 that the Beglaris and the city improperly applied ‘the provisions of the projecting building exception in determining the prevailing setback requirement,’ and the permits and certificate of occupancy were again revoked. Last Thursday, the Beglaris’ attorney Rob Glushon argued that the Beglaris were not rogue builders who knowingly built their house out of scale with the rest of the neighborhood. ‘At all stages of construction, they relied on Building and Safety,’ Glushon said. The Beglaris initially hired a licensed architect to determine the prevailing setback, and those measures were approved by Building and Safety. At one point, the construction was stopped for four weeks because of neighbors’ complaints, but ‘Building and Safety told them [the Beglaris] the permit was fine and assured them that they could continue,’ Glushon said. The measurements were skewed because the Beglaris and their architect had thought the garage of a neighboring property was attached, so that was calculated into the prevailing setback, Glushon said. The courts ruled that the detached garage should not have been used. Glushon also pointed out that the Beglaris’ house is not the only residence in the neighborhood with a zoning adjustment. Vickey Beglari then presented Brown with photos of other homes on nearby streets with small front yards. ‘It’s not as if our house stands out,’ she said. The neighbors’ attorney, Kevin McDonnell, argued that just because other houses in the neighborhood had received variances, it was not justification to grant one in this case. McDonnell contended that the Beglaris submitted erroneous information to Building and Safety from the beginning. The neighbors made their concerns heard before construction was completed, and they were ignored. L.A. Superior Court Judge Diana Wheatley, one of the neighbors who took the Beglaris and city to court, argued that Mehr Beglari is a developer who should know how to measure the prevailing setback correctly. She said it was obvious that the house was too close to the street. ‘I believe in the rule of the law and that it should be applied fairly to everyone,’ Wheatley said. Richard G. Cohen, chair of the Pacific Palisades Community Council, informed Brown that the Council often hears complaints about inadequate setbacks as well as over-height structures and is frustrated by the lack of enforcement of the zoning and building codes. ’This has led to widespread intentional disregard of regulations, much to the detriment of the community,’ Cohen said, adding that the Council is against granting the Beglaris a variance. ‘Surely, the Beglaris will say that an adverse decision will be harmful to them,’ Cohen said. ‘I ask you to consider that the consequences of a decision to grant their requested adjustment will be a slap in the face of every law-abiding citizen who has not overbuilt their property.’ Brown decided to leave the case open until March 20, so interested parties can submit letters or any additional information. Write to Office of Zoning Administration, 200 N. Spring St., Seventh Floor, Los Angeles, CA 90012 or call (213) 978-1318.
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