Culver City : New Height Limit Adopted

The City Council this week unanimously adopted an interim ordinance that limits the height of new buildings to 58.5 feet, with an additional 13.5 feet allowed for architectural features and mechanical or electrical equipment.

The ordinance took effect immediately, replacing an earlier ordinance that stipulated a 97-foot height limit and required City Council review for all buildings over 43 feet.

City Atty. Joseph Pannone said the ordinance would not supersede stricter height limits already in effect in some areas of the city.

The issue has been at the center of Culver City politics for more than a year. Slow-growth advocates last year collected more than 3,000 signatures to qualify an initiative for the April, 1990, municipal election that seeks a limit of 56 feet.

Councilmen Steven Gourley and James Boulgarides, who were elected last year after campaigning to limit development, have been seeking an height limit ordinance for several months.

During Monday night’s discussion, council members Richard Alexander and Jozelle Smith and Mayor Paul Jacobs raised concerns about flexibility.

“Could we consider allowing greater height if a developer provides more setbacks and parking, and we limit the gross leasable space?” Alexander asked. “This ordinance is OK, but next time. . . . “

Smith said she agreed with Alexander’s intent to give the council more leeway in its efforts to control density, and Jacobs said the council was “definitely losing flexibility” under the ordinance.

But Boulgarides disagreed. “What this ordinance says is that we don’t want to be a high-profile city, to the point where we cut off the light,” he said.

The ordinance will remain in effect until the city Planning Commission and the City Council review and amend provisions of the Municipal Code regulating height and other measures related to density.

City Planning Director Jay Cunningham said it would take the Planning Commission several months to finish the review.