Blog Soup
By Matin Lipkin
You’ve seen it happen all across the Valley.
On quiet, tree-lined streets filled with modest, mid-century ranch homes, you suddenly encounter a humongous, “Tuscan-style” mausoleum that covers virtually every square inch of its lot and looms over neighboring back and side yards.
 In another scenario, in an RA-zoned neighborhood of substantial lots that was initially created to allow homeowners to keep horses, small farm animals and fowl, one large lot is being cleaved into three cramped parcels that will soon feature a trio of gigantic pseudo-Spanish monstrosities, shoulder-to-shoulder.
Or, maybe you’re driving along a hillside lot so steep even a demented mountain goat wouldn’t try scaling it, when you see a construction gang furiously trying to erect a 6,000 sq. ft. “Caliteranian McMansion” before rains or seismic conditions let loose an avalanche of mud.
All three were common scenes in quaint, suburban West Valley neighborhoods and along the Mulholland corridor, substantially altering the character and look of communities and creating a slew of problems for many homeowners.
The key word is “were.” Two governing forces are now set to rectify the problems that the “mansionization” trend has caused throughout the San Fernando Valley, as well as in many other areas of the City. The first, is a new Ordinance created by the Department of Planning that regulates the Floor Area Ratio (FAR) for all properties zoned single family residential (R1, RS, RE9, RE15, RA, RE20, and RE40) not located in the Hillside Area or Coastal Zone. The second, is the Mulholland Design Review Board that holds public hearings and makes key determinations on all construction in the hills within 1/2 mile of Mulholland Drive.
This past summer, the Planning Department held a number of open forums throughout the City to determine the need for—and possible scope of—a new City Ordinance to reign in the rampant proliferation of “McMansions,” and to curb the frequent “slicing and dicing” of large suburban lots into flag lots and overly-dense “micro-communities.”
The resolution created by Planning for the City Council amends a number of key provisions in the existing Municipal Code and sets forth strict size, height and setback standards for any new home construction or add-ons.
For example, the new Ordinance will reduce the existing FAR for each zone from the current 3:1 by Buildable Area and change it to an FAR for each zone based on lot size. In the R1 zone (which covers a majority of single family residences), a lot that’s only 5,000 sq. ft. could have a home with a maximum floor area of 2,500 sq. ft.— including garages. On a lot up to 7,500 sq., ft., the maximum floor area—including garages —would be 3,000 sq. ft.
The Ordinance would also allow a bonus of 20% of the maximum of the development potential of the lot if all other stories of the home are less than 75% of the first floor area. That would create setbacks and prevent homes from looming over neighboring residences.
Roof profiles and heights are also addressed. In the R1 zone, roofs with less than a 25% slope can not exceed 28 feet. You can build to a maximum of 33 feet high if the roof slope is 25% or greater.
In addition, the Ordinance clarifies that Zoning Administrators do not have adjustment authority in decisions on Single-Family Residential Floor Areas.
The only key points lacking from the new Ordinance is language that specifically protects homes in the RA zone. Homeowners in the Walnut Acres and Melody Acres neighborhoods have been working with Councilman Zine to create a special overlay district that would protect their lots from being chopped into smaller parcels by mandating a minimum lot size of 17,000 sq. ft.
While the Ordinance has been written and City Council members have received preliminary copies prior to a vote, it is still making its way through the bowels of the City Attorney’s office at an agonizingly slow tempo. Some City Hall insiders speculate that it may take the Mayor or the Council’s Planning Committee (PLUM) to pry it loose for a vote.
Unfortunately, the City’s new Mansionization Ordinance does not address hillside neighborhoods and any new development there. Fortunately, West Valley homeowners living in the hills leading up to Mulholland do have a remedy for fighting McMansions.
The Mulholland Design Review Board (MDRB) is a special oversight committee of the City’s Planning Department that evaluates all hillside development with _ mile of Mulholland Drive, including new dwellings, additions, changes in landscape and hardscape and other critical factors that impact existing neighborhoods on hillsides and in canyons.
Five board members appointed from the general public with expertise in architecture, construction, land planning, home design and landscaping, review plans and hold open meetings where the builder and neighbors can present the arguments pro or con. The MDRB is charged with the mission of assuring that proposed structures conform with the look and feel of the rest of the existing neighborhood, and that protected Oak trees, Sycamores, California Bay trees and Black Walnuts are maintained on the property.
High on their radar is the size, shape and siting of a proposed structure. The MDRB has been especially diligent in dissuading builders from erecting 6,000 sq. ft. palaces in neighborhoods where homes range from 1,200-2,500 sq. ft. In general, any proposed home that exceeds a 45% FAR of the existing lot is quickly sent back to the drawing board. Builders who propose clear-cutting a site of protected trees, or who fail to meet the rigid parking requirements for hillside construction are also sent back to square one. The same with many homes which fail to utilize enough natural materials like stone or wood, or which are out of step with the rustic architecture of the majority of hillside neighborhoods.
The MDRB’s oversight doesn’t mean that all new construction is limited in size to neighboring structures. Board members quickly point out that asking a builder to construct a 1,200 sq. ft. home makes little sense in today’s housing market. But they quickly add, it also doesn’t mean that a neighborhood should be overwhelmed by a Tuscanesque mausoleum that dwarfs everything else for blocks around.
With the City’s new FAR Ordinance and the oversight of the Mulholland Design Review Board, neighborhoods can expect an end to the proliferation of bloated residences that have threatened to change the character of many of the West Valley’s most picturesque communities.
Editor’s Note: The so-called Anti-Mansionization ordinance was passed by the City Planning Commission last June. It now goes before the City Council Planning and Land Use (PLUM) committee on December 18 at 2 p.m. at City Hall. Read this and other reports and information on the WHWCNC website:
www.whcouncil.org )
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