Ban on Large Houses Rejected

The Palos Verdes Estates City Council has declined to pass an urgency ordinance that would have temporarily banned the construction of singe-family houses larger than 15,000 square feet.

The council agreed Tuesday to meet jointly with the Planning Commission to discuss concerns raised by commissioners about several large houses that are awaiting approval. The council defeated the urgency ordinance 3 to 2, with Mayor Ruth Gralow and Councilman Edward Ritscher unsuccessfully arguing that the 45-day building ban would have given the city time to strengthen its codes, if necessary.

The council last year adopted two ordinances designed to deal with oversized houses. But city officials said some extremely large houses can meet restrictions of the neighborhood compatibility ordinance and an ordinance that ties floor area to the size of the lot if the house is built on a large lot in a neighborhood of very large homes.

Ritscher said: “We might be in a position of having to approve something that could be disastrous to the city in the future.”

He said some oversized houses--one before the Planning Commission would have 30,000 square feet--are large enough to be used as medical facilities, bed and breakfast inns or hotels. Such uses are banned in residential zones.

Other council members said they wanted the merits or weaknesses of large houses to be argued on a case-by-case basis and opposed the urgency ban.

“It’s true we’re having to make some tough decisions and maybe not always the right decision, but I don’t like moratoriums,” Planning Commissioner Joe Barnett told the council.