To prevent homeowners from constructing large homes that are out of scale with the rest of the neighborhood, the L.A. Department of City Planning is developing a mansionization ordinance for hillside properties. ‘If everything works out the way I want, we will have a proposal ready this summer and a new ordinance on the books next winter,’ said L.A. City Planner Erick Lopez during the Santa Monica Canyon Civic Association’s 63rd annual meeting on May 19. The L.A. City Council adopted a Baseline Mansionization Ordinance (BMO) a year ago for all residential properties in areas zoned as flat, meaning areas with slopes of less than 15 percent. The ordinance, however, does not apply to Pacific Palisades despite the fact that many residences are located in large flat areas because the entire community is zoned as a hillside. The hillside ordinance is based on street boundaries rather than topography, so city employees have spent the past few months looking at topography maps to redefine hillsides, Lopez said. On March 26, the City Planning Commission approved revising the hillside area definition to be based on topography rather than street boundaries. The proposal will be presented to the City Council’s Planning and Land Use Management Committee and then submitted to the City Council for final approval. If approved, large flat areas with 100 lots or more (such as the Alphabet Streets) currently zoned as hillside will automatically fall under the existing BMO. Those properties that are still considered hillside will be under the proposed Hillside Mansionization Ordinance. To develop that ordinance, the city has reviewed existing hillside regulations and boundaries, studied best practices in other jurisdictions throughout the nation and hosted kick-off meetings. ‘We are now working on processing public comments and concerns that we’ve received so far to determine which ones can be addressed by this particular project, and we’ll be using that information to develop a proposal,’ Lopez said. ‘Once a proposed ordinance is put together, there will be public meetings and hearings held in order to give people a chance to comment.’ Currently, a homeowner in an area zoned as hillside can build a home with a floor area ratio that is three times the buildable area (lot size minus setbacks). The topography of each property is not taken into consideration. ‘We realize that lot size alone is not the best method of determining an appropriately sized home,’ Lopez said, adding there are also no grading limits or rules for the size of retaining walls in the existing hillside ordinance. Some efforts have already taken place across the city to restrict the size of homes in hillside areas. The Northeast L.A. Ordinance, which became effective in January, establishes new floor-area ratios based on topography, uses slope to calculate the overall height limit, regulates grading and controls the height and length of the retaining walls. The Oaks Interim Control Ordinance for properties southwest of Griffith Park establishes new floor-area ratios to limit size of structures and allows homeowners to build a home at least 1,600 square feet regardless of how steep the hillside. Lopez pointed out that what works for one neighborhood might not for another. ‘There is not going to be a magic bullet,’ he said, adding that the Hillside Mansionization Ordinance will serve as a template for the city. Similar to the BMO, the city envisions giving hillside residents flexibility. The BMO allows residents to create Residential Floor Area Districts (RFA), which are neighborhoods consisting of at least 100 acres that have decided by a 75 percent majority vote to establish their own guidelines. The City Council and City Planning Commission can also create RFA districts. The rules of the district can be more or less restrictive than the BMO. ‘The idea here is that there are no default rules in place,’ Lopez said. ‘Residents can custom-tailor to their particular neighborhood.’ For updates on the progress of the Hillside Mansionization Ordinance or to make comments, contact Lopez at Erick.Lopez@lacity.org or call (213) 978-1243. Those who e-mail should write ‘Add me to the Hillside Interest List’ or ‘Hillside Comments’ in the subject line. Lopez asks that residents provide their contact information and zip code.
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