LOS ANGELES : City Delays Vote on Hillside Restrictions

The Los Angeles City Council on Wednesday debated but finally postponed until next week a vote on a long-awaited plan to place tough new rules on home construction and remodeling projects in hillside neighborhoods.

The hillside ordinance, opposed by building industry representatives, is designed to stop the trend of building mansion-sized houses on comparatively small lots and to make hillside neighborhoods safer and more accessible to emergency vehicles.

The rules place new height limits on hillside houses and prohibit a house from covering more than 40% or 45% of a lot. Councilman Zev Yaroslavsky, a supporter of the rules, said the “mansionization” trend has resulted in the “obscene development” of houses so big that they overpower the environment.

The regulations require that new homes in the hills be equipped with automatic fire safety sprinkler systems and that sprinklers also be installed when major remodeling work is done on existing houses.

To reduce the number of parked cars on narrow hillside streets, the plan also would require builders to provide at least three off-street parking spaces for new houses and remodeling jobs that result in structures over 2,400 square feet.

Councilman Michael Woo, who supports the measure, said the lack of off-street parking has made it difficult for emergency vehicles to navigate the city’s many narrow, serpentine hillside streets. He cited the example of an elderly lady who lived in the hills who died, he said, when an ambulance was unable to reach her in time.