Ban on Hillside Development Is Extended by La Canada Council : Moratorium: The city exempts projects already in the review process. It also approves a case-by-case review for future applications.

The La Canada Flintridge City Council voted 4 to 0 Tuesday night to extend an emergency moratorium on hillside development through early December.

But responding to citizen complaints, the council added an exemption clause for projects already in the municipal approval process and a case-by-case review process for future applications.

Councilman Ed Phelps abstained due to possible conflict of interest because his former law firm represents a La Canada Flintridge hillside developer.

The exemption clause covers projects that have already been submitted to the city Planning Department for approval and pass through the building permit process within 120 days of the application’s filing, City Attorney Stephanie Scher said.

“The moratorium gives us some breathing space to develop new standards for hillside development, and the exceptions would allow projects that have been in the process to go forward within that breathing space,” said Craig Ewing, senior planner.

Ewing estimated that 30 properties in La Canada Flintridge are in the midst of the approval process and could be exempted from the moratorium.

The City Council adopted the 120-day provision and case-by-case review process after 18 residents spoke in opposition to the hillside moratorium at Tuesday night’s meeting.

“People don’t want to invest thousands of dollars to build a house on a hillside only to be told later on that they’ve bought a picnic site,” said Kent Jamison, a La Canada Flintridge developer.

“I’m all for a more restrictive ordinance, because it forces the developer to be more sensitive to the site,” he added. “But on the other hand there needs to be a protection for individuals or companies who go to the city and ask what they need to do under the current ordinances.”

The city staff is formulating the appeal and case-by-case review processes. Property owners who request such a review would have to present their case to the Planning Commission.

The emergency moratorium on hillside development was enacted Dec. 4, 1988, when the city staff requested a 45-day review period to study the city’s 1979 hillside ordinance.

“There were some problems with the existing hillside ordinance that people had taken advantage of . . . with very high retaining walls and excessive grading,” said La Canada Flintridge architect Jay Johnson. “But it wasn’t the correct procedure to just stop everything at once . . . I think the solution they’ve come up with is a good one.”

Ewing added, “People were building very precipitous buildings with high retaining walls, and the character of these buildings was not considered appropriate for La Canada.”

In response to questions raised about retaining walls, the council also adopted a provision that would require landscaping for the structures to reduce “the visual impact to the surrounding community,” Mayor Pro Tem Chris Valente said.