Northwest : BUENA PARK : Council Votes to Spare Unapproved Additions

Twenty residents of a cul-de-sac off Western Avenue managed to change a local permit law by simply ignoring it.

City Council members grudgingly agreed this week to give preliminary approval to an agreement between the city and the 20 homeowners to revise a use permit rather than force some residents to tear down room additions.

“This does give one part of the city special rights and privileges, but if their neighbors aren’t complaining, they will get it,” Councilman Arthur C. Brown said.

El Rosal Circle homeowners at the hearing sighed with relief but made no comments after officials described the dilemma and then voted 5 to 0 in their favor.

The conditional-use permit for the 20 homes on El Rosal Circle had been approved in 1966, with the provision that no extra rooms be added because of the close squeeze with nearby homes.

Over the years, code enforcement officers have detected six additions on homes within the cul-de-sac between Western and La Palma avenues.

Ordered to “legalize” the expanded homes, residents suggested a compromise with the city that would allow them to add on family rooms and patio covers to the rear of their homes, but no bedrooms or bathrooms. Homeowners could come to within five feet of property lines of homes on adjoining Morro Way, the agreement said.

“I will vote in support of this because I don’t see an alternative,” Councilman Donald L. Bone said. “But in the future I will say, ‘You did not get a permit, you will have to tear it down.’ That sounds harsh, but we all have to live with the same rules, and those rules were designed to protect everyone.”