New Rules on Hillside Homes Get Initial OK : Council: Woo and Holden exchange insults before tentative approval of law that would bar mansions on small, steep parcels.

The Los Angeles City Council on Tuesday tentatively approved tough new rules on housing construction in hillside areas, following an unusually bitter public spat between two council members who attacked each other’s credibility.

Councilmen Nate Holden and Michael Woo traded personal insults over the disclosure Saturday that Woo, one of the measure’s most vocal champions, is remodeling his own home in Silver Lake--but without including the costly, public safety provisions the hillside ordinance will require of others.

The exchange interested political observers as a possible hint of things to come. Holden has already declared his intention to raise money to run for mayor. Although Woo has not declared his intention to run for the same office, many City Hall observers see him as a potential candidate.

The hillside plan is aimed at halting the proliferation of mansions on small hillside lots. It also seeks to make the city’s hilly areas safer by requiring sprinklers inside homes, and to improve accessibility for emergency vehicles by reducing the number of cars parked on narrow, winding roads.

In addition to the Santa Monica Mountains and Hollywood Hills, the measure would affect mountainous Sunland-Tujunga and Porter Ranch in the San Fernando Valley and Silver Lake and Echo Park near downtown.

Tuesday’s council vote was 11 to 2 in favor of the plan, with Holden and Councilman Mike Hernandez the sole opponents. The plan is expected to gain final approval in a vote scheduled for next week.

Hillside property owners who oppose the measure called Woo a hypocrite following publication of a story in Saturday’s Times disclosing that even as Woo was pushing new restrictions on hillside construction he was ignoring the proposal’s costly features in remodeling his own home.

Woo’s rejoinder was that he saw “no contradiction” in his stand and that the measure, still under consideration, was not meant to retroactively affect properties like his.

Holden drew first blood Tuesday when he bluntly asked Woo, in a break with protocol and parliamentary rules requiring him to address the chair: “Are you in favor of the hillside ordinance?”

Rising to address Holden personally, Woo shot back: “Is there a reason why you are trying to front for hillside developers?”

Holden replied that he wanted it “on the record” that “you wanted it applied to everyone but yourself.”

Then--as the audience and lawmakers began to chuckle or moan, depending on individual attitudes toward the ordinance--Holden sarcastically added: “I’m going to vote ‘no’ so Mr. Woo can build his house without criticism.”

Holden, however, had previously opposed the ordinance, saying it interfered with homeowners’ property rights.

Later, Woo rose to speak, saying he did so only to respond to the “attacks from pro-development interests” who want “to build oversized mansions on matchbook lots.”

Woo warned his critics that “your smear tactics will not work” as he reiterated his position that the ordinance was never meant to have a retroactive effect on projects such as his that were begun before its passage.

Councilman Zev Yaroslavsky, a supporter, urged quick adoption of the long-awaited ordinance, saying “literally tens of thousands” of homeowners are eager to stop hillside overbuilding, which he called “an obscene development” that degrades the city’s beauty.

Key provisions place a 36-foot height limit on most hillside houses and 45-foot limit on houses built on steeper lots. Other restrictions prohibit a house from covering more than 40% of most lots or 45% of substandard lots of 5,000 square feet or less--blocking construction of mansions on small lots.

Opponents of the plan, including architects, have said these provisions may result in boxier, less attractive houses.

The regulations also require all new hillside houses, and those undergoing substantial remodeling, to be equipped with automatic sprinkler systems to fight fires.

Sprinklers would be required in remodeled houses that increased more than 50% in size or value and are more than two miles from a fire station.

To get parked cars off narrow hillside streets, the proposal requires builders to provide extra off-street parking spaces for new houses and remodeled ones that result in structures with more than 2,400 square feet. For each 1,000-square-foot increment over 2,400 square feet, one extra off-street parking space is required.