S. Pasadena Clamps Ban on Building : Construction: A 45-day moratorium will give the city time to revise its Building Code. The target: Bulky houses on small lots and ‘shoe-box’ condominiums.

Despite complaints from homeowners who said they feared that a building moratorium would jeopardize their remodeling plans, the City Council has enacted a widespread ban on residential and commercial construction projects.

“I don’t want South Pasadena to become another Arcadia,” said Councilman James C. Hodge Jr., referring to bulky, single-family homes that dominate lots in parts of Arcadia. And he complained of “shoe-box condominiums” that detract from residential neighborhoods in South Pasadena.

Hodge and Councilman Dick Richards said they proposed the moratorium to give city officials time to make Building Code revisions on density, design, size, and height of residential and commercial projects.

The ban will last for 45 days. After that, the council will be able to extend it for up to 10 1/2 months.

The only dissenting vote at Wednesday night’s meeting came from Councilman James Woollacott Jr., who said the city didn’t need to stop all construction.

But Woollacott said he has reversed his longstanding opposition to a proposal by Hodge and other city officials for a local design review committee that would work with the Planning Commission.

Most of the more than 15 speakers at the meeting focused their criticism on a proposed section of the moratorium that would have exempted only those projects in which an existing building could be expanded by no more than 10% of its square footage.

“(This) may be a bit of overkill for people who want to make reasonable additions to their homes,” Michael R. Couglan told the council.

Liz Altounian said, “We really need to think of smaller families that are growing.”

And Peter Kwong said that if he were allowed to expand his 750-square-foot house by only 10%, it still would be insufficient for his and his wife’s needs.

After hearing such comments, council members moved to increase the exemption to 20%.

But the increase still wasn’t enough for some residents. “This moratorium is too drastic,” Ben Wu said.

Not every speaker opposed the ban. One woman, echoing slow-growth sentiment in the community, said: “I’m very heartened. It sounds good to me after what’s been going on in the last few years.”

Council members said they thought that the moratorium will allow time for necessary revisions in the Building Code and provide adequately for those residents who want to request exemptions.

The moratorium doesn’t affect about 109 projects that have been approved or submitted for review by city planners.

Among those projects are 18 new single-family houses that City Manager John J. Bernardi said would violate the provisions of a proposed ordinance that would limit a house’s square footage in relation to lot size.

The Planning Commission is holding a hearing May 21 about the “anti-mansionization” law that would ban bulky houses.