Stiff Laws Keep San Marino Tidy

San Marino is a conservative enclave of stately homes and manicured lawns whose residents detest Big Government. Two out of three vote Republican.

Local government, however, is another matter. It doesn’t take much to break the law in San Marino, prompting residents to warn newcomers: If you have to ask, it’s probably illegal.

There are laws against leaving a car in the driveway for a few days, and running a remote control toy in the local park. And, of course, it is illegal to spit on the sidewalk.

A trash can or air-conditioner in public view gets a citation. A badly trimmed tree can send a homeowner to a city-run pruning class.

“We like to joke that everything is illegal in San Marino,” said Vice Mayor Paul Crowley, a lifelong resident who knows the local laws better than most. After all, he wrote the book on them--the one new homeowners must sign upon receipt from their real estate broker.

San Marino illustrates a fundamental aspect of neighborhood politics, said Steve B. Frates, a senior fellow at Rose Institute at Claremont McKenna College: Homeowners will quickly toss aside political philosophy in defense of property values.

“It’s quite an irony that those who say less government is better are of the inclination to demand some of the toughest restrictions by local government,” Frates said.

San Marino, where the average home costs $650,000, has become perhaps the most regulated city in the country, he said.

Forget love thy neighbor. Try watch thy neighbor. City officials say more than 700 code enforcement complaints were investigated last year. “Sometimes we’re more like a giant homeowners association than a city,” said resident Bernard LeSage.

Neighbors are the eyes and ears of City Hall. “They take pride in doing what they can to assure it stays the way it is now,” Planning and Building Director David Saldana said.

First-time violators get warnings. But repeat offenders can be fined from $50 to $500 for infractions such as using a garage for storing anything other than vehicles.

Citations also are issued for dead lawns and chain-link fences. While some cities have just begun to ban free-standing basketball hoops, San Marino for years has outlawed all recreational activity in front yards. The city took one resident to court for having the temerity to install a backboard.

The city’s Lacy Park is kept spotless by laws that include a ban on resting bicycles on the grass or against trees.

Business signs must be no less than 80% English. There are bans on air guns, mini bikes and the sale of bicycles by minors. Watering the sidewalk is a crime.

“We love this town and the rules are how we keep it this way,” said Eugene Sun, a mortgage broker. “With a city of 13,000. We probably have the most regulations per capita in the state, if not the country.”

Sun said those who flock to the city, which is a third Asian American, do so in part because of its orderly nature.

The laws of municipal behavior grow each year as council members stumble across new suburban woes. Crowley said.

When the council found out that children were living alone in homes bought by their absentee parents seeking to enroll them in the highly rated school district, the city made it illegal for a permanent head of household to be under 21.

Last year, the city considered a law to limit most homes to one frontyard security sign. The effort was abandoned after residents agreed that the fear of crime outweighed aesthetics.

But residents rarely complain.

This is, after all, a place where trash is collected from the backyard and successful politicians shun lawn signs.

Since its incorporation in 1913, the city has allowed only single-family households. That legacy continues today. New homes cannot cover more than 40% of the land on a property. The addition of a fifth bedroom requires at least a three-car garage.

Even the Mudd Estate, home of USC President Steven B. Sample, is not above the rules. The city a few years ago denied the university’s request to construct an upstairs kitchen. There is a law prohibiting all but first-floor kitchens.

San Marino is not ashamed to be associated with tree huggers. Few cities have tougher laws protecting them.

Homeowners must get a permit when they hire anyone to trim their trees. They are prohibited from removing a tree without city approval. And if they have the misfortune of trimming a tree badly, they can be required to attend a tree pruning class.

The penalties for violations are severe. One Huntington Drive homeowner who had a laborer chop down a large canary pine without city permission, was recently fined $1,000 and ordered to plant a new 60-inch diameter tree, officials said.

Horrified neighbors had called police.

The city requires gardeners and delivery trucks to display identification tags issued by City Hall.

‘You have to have a permit for everything. God forbid a tradesman not have the appropriate tag,” said Jack Wainschel, a retired doctor. He trims his own trees despite having a relative in the trimming business because of the city’s tough requirements.

Even the free market operates under suspicion in San Marino. Neon signs are banned, along with mortuaries and used car lots. Churches were banned until 1940.

Nancy Billings, president of the local Chamber of Commerce, said: “There are certain things that aren’t going to fly here.”