YORBA LINDA : City Weighs Limit on Size of Houses

The Planning Commission will consider an amendment to the zoning code that would establish maximum house sizes.

At its meeting last week, the commission instructed the planning staff to research possible ways to regulate the height of additions to existing houses. The city’s planning code already restricts how much of a lot can be covered, but it only addresses a house’s ground floor and garage.

The proposed amendment comes at the request of the City Council, which recently overturned several Planning Commission decisions regarding house additions.

The issue of “mansionization” often arises when homeowners add second floors that are nearly the same size as the ground floor. Neighbors frequently complain that the resulting house overwhelms surrounding houses.

The most recent case came last November after the Planning Commission approved a conditional-use permit for a homeowner who was planning to nearly double the size of his home in Parkside Estates, near the Yorba Linda Golf Course.

The permit was appealed to the City Council by several neighbors, who complained that the proposed addition of a second story to the 2,300-square-foot, ranch-style house would be too massive for the neighborhood.

In voting to uphold the appeal and overturn the conditional-use permit, then-Mayor Pro Tem John M. Gullixson chastised the Planning Commission for granting the permit in the first place.

“I am disappointed with the Planning Commission,” Gullixson said. “They said there was no impingement on privacy (with a house this large). I disagree.”

The Planning Commission will vote on the amendment at its Feb. 10 meeting. If the amendment passes, Yorba Linda will join Fullerton as the only other city in the county with an ordinance against mansionization, officials said.