Council OKs Limits on Hillside Houses

Responding to concern about large houses being built on small lots in the hills of Sherman Oaks, the Los Angeles City Council has adopted a temporary measure that will limit the size of new residences.

The interim control ordinance was adopted Tuesday by a 12 to 0 vote, said Katharine Macdonald, press secretary to Councilman Zev Yaroslavsky, who sponsored the measure. The ordinance, which will be effective for one year, will apply only to the irregular hillside lots that were subdivided before the Sherman Oaks Community Plan was enacted in 1974. The measure will be eligible for two six-month extensions.

Macdonald and homeowners representative Richard Close said the measure was designed to block construction of oversized houses until the City Council adopts a citywide ordinance addressing the so-called “mansionization” issue. A proposed citywide ordinance is scheduled May 24 by the city Planning Commission, according to Macdonald.

But Close said of the pending measure: “As it meanders, they build. . . . We couldn’t wait.”

The interim ordinance will reduce the maximum height limit on houses from 45 to 30 feet in most cases. It will also increase the requirement for off-street parking from two spaces to three or four, depending on the size of the house, and require that some narrow streets be widened.