L.A. Defines Rules for Height Limits on Boulevard

The Los Angeles City Council on Tuesday reinforced a temporary 45-foot height limit on new buildings on Ventura Boulevard by strictly defining the way building height can be measured.

The measure, which applies to the entire 17-mile length of the boulevard from Studio City to Woodland Hills, was prompted by angry Studio City residents who complained that a 95-foot-tall Ventura Boulevard office building blocked their view of the San Fernando Valley.

Under the law, unanimously approved, building heights will be measured from the lowest point of the curb on Ventura Boulevard.

The height restrictions are designed to close a loophole in Ventura Boulevard’s temporary construction-control ordinance, which was enacted in 1985 to give city planners time to devise permanent development standards for the Valley’s most commercially popular thoroughfare.

Restricted Heights

Although the ordinance restricted heights to 45 feet, it did not clearly state how to measure buildings.

In the case of the Fairway Building, which sparked the protest in Studio City, the developer was able to obtain special bonuses that allowed him to construct a three-story building that residents say towers 95 feet above the boulevard.

Builder Eitan Gonan maintained that he was allowed to do so by city codes that enabled him to measure the building from the top of tall planters that he installed around the building. Also, by building on a slope, he was able to earn additional height bonuses because the upper stories were considered a separate building.

Developer Irwin Spector spoke out against the measure before the council vote, saying it will unfairly alter his plans to build a 57-foot-tall Ventura Boulevard building with retail shops on the ground floor and apartments against the hillside.

“This ordinance should contain provisions for exceptions,” Spector said.

City planners and the Studio City Residents Assn., however, have argued that the interim control ordinance should not allow for any exceptions to the 45-foot height rule.