SEAL BEACH : Council Extends Ban on New ‘Doghouses’
The City Council voted Monday to extend until November a ban on covered roof accesses, commonly known as doghouses.
Under city code, the doghouses are supposed to be non-habitable spaces that exceed the city’s standard 25-foot height limit by no more than seven feet.
But the city staff is now investigating possible misuses of the provision, including several doghouses where people may be living and one in which the owner built a mini-observatory complete with a metallic dome.
The ban was originally imposed in April in response to the observatory, which neighbors claim was misrepresented as a doghouse during Planning Commission hearings.
Residents say the observatory, which will soon be fitted with a small telescope, invades their privacy and obstructs their view.
“I’m 100% against it. It doesn’t belong in Seal Beach,” Randy Hines said. “I hate to go against my neighbor; I just don’t feel this was the right thing to do.”
The City Council ordered the ban on doghouses to allow city staff time to study the code and the legality of the dome. If the staff concludes that the owner of the observatory failed to follow proper procedures in building the dome, he may have to seek new approval.
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