Protection for Residential Neighborhoods : Development Curbs OKd in Inglewood

The Inglewood City Council has approved changes in zoning regulations to slow development in residential neighborhoods.

The vote this week came after seven months of discussion and planning spurred by angry residents, particularly homeowners in north Inglewood neighborhoods. Developers there have been purchasing single-family homes in areas where the zoning allows limited multiple-family buildings and converting them into apartment complexes or adding new apartments. Residents said the multiple-unit complexes bring congestion, traffic and crime.

Councilman Anthony Scardenzan, who pushed for the measure at the urging of constituents, said in an interview after the vote:

“This should help. People were very upset. Developers were making a bundle, but the neighborhoods cannot take more congestion.”

The package of changes, recommended by the city Planning Commission, amends current zoning regulations to reduce the number of units allowed in multiple-family developments and proposes an especially restrictive new zoning classification for a neighborhood in northeast Inglewood where many of the protests originated.

While some developers complained that the council would stymie development with the restrictions, residents turned out in force at meetings on the subject. No one protested the unanimous council vote on Tuesday.

For apartment buildings and condominiums throughout the city, the amended regulations increase minimum sizes of single apartments from 400 to 500 square feet, one-bedroom units from 600 to 700 square feet and two-bedroom units from 750 to 850 square feet.

In R-2 (limited multiple family) zones, the city has increased the minimum size of lots on which more than two units can be built. Minimum lot area required to build two units remains at 5,000 square feet. But the amount of additional lot area on which additional units can be built was increased from 2,000 to 3,000 square feet per unit. For example, a lot will now have to be 8,000 square feet, rather than the previous 7,000, in order for an owner to add a third unit to a structure.

New Zoning Designation

A staff report to the City Council states that this density revision will “substantially reduce” the number of third and fourth units that can be built and will “discourage the consolidation of lots into larger development sites, thereby protecting the low-density, small-scale residential environments of Inglewood’s R-2 neighborhoods.”

The council approved standards for a new R-2A multiple-family zoning designation in an area bounded roughly by La Brea Avenue, Centinela Park and the city’s northern and eastern borders. The minimum additional lot area required for a unit added to two units would increase from 2,000 to 4,000 additional square feet.

Now that the council has approved the R-2A zoning standards, the Planning Commission will hold a public hearing on June 1 for affected property owners as the next step toward rezoning, city planner William Barnett said.

If the Planning Commission grants approval, the rezoning decision will move to the City Council. About 2,000 properties would be rezoned, Barnett said.

The more stringent regulations came because of pressure from residents seeking to ward off a wave of construction in a congested area of small single-family homes on irregularly sized lots, officials said.

In R-3 zones, the council increased front-yard setbacks from 15 to 20 feet and reduced height limits from six stories to three.

A previously unlimited building height in R-4 zones was replaced by a restriction of four stories.