The Lowdown: Hillside Ordinance

If you live in Encino, you have probably heard the term "mansionization," which refers to developers building out all available space in a parcel, at times subdividing large parcels into smaller ones and building block houses therein.

Poor design on one lot can affect a neighborhood's aesthetic as a whole and permanently diminish property values. This is because appraisal values in a neighborhood are calculated by recent sale prices per square foot.

Disproportionately large homes, with a larger area in the divisor, shift appraisal values downward irrespective of market conditions. Communities create ordinances in order to prevent others, particularly non-local residents, from monopolizing land parcels. Ordinances also aim to protect quality of life, neighborhood architectural integrity and long-term property values.

The 2008 Los Angeles Baseline Mansionization Ordinance is the governing document that determines how large a residence can be built on a single-family lot. In Encino, these guidelines have applied to non-hillside properties since May.

The rest of the true hillside properties will be subject to new regulations this fall in the form of the Hillside Ordinance.  The new ordinance will replicate the original 2008 flatlands de-mansionization provisions but will be specifically tailored to address hillside development issues.

The City Council approved the new hillside ordinance this July and is expected to officially adopt it in September.  The City Attorney must first draft the final ordinance before it can be adopted and become law.  A charter-mandated 40- to 45-day waiting period in which citizens may gather signatures for a referendum against the ordinance, or give individuals time to finish up their project designs and get them into the Department of Building and Safety system for permits, would put the ordinance into effect in late October or November, depending on date of adoption.

We've broken down the details of this complex ordinance below.

Current Status

The ordinance is currently at the City Attorney's office, whose final draft is due this month.

The History Behind the Movement to Curb Mansionization

The issue of building out-of-scale residences has been an ongoing problem for the last 20 years and became a focus of the city's attention in 2005. City Council members had received feedback from local residents, and the Department of City Planning staff became aware of the behemoth houses. Zoning laws at the time allowed the construction of homes that were larger in square footage than the lots on which they were built. Under the then-existing rules, a developer could take the lot area, subtract the area of setbacks and multiply by three, creating an out-of-scale three-story block house.

In 2006, the Los Angeles City Council initiated a motion (06-1293) to ask city staff, especially the Department of City Planning, to look at the codes allowing out-of-scale construction and any possibility for amendments.

A motion was filed to revise requirements for flat land and hillsides and to develop a uniform standard, as opposed to a patchwork of individually sought exceptions, termed Interim Control Ordinances.  The formula then became much more specific and applied a scale to each zone within the city.  The ordinance did not address design style or push a uniform aesthetic on any neighborhood; it only addressed mass and scale.

A series of meetings in early 2008 resulted in a first draft of what became the Baseline Mansionization Ordinance.  The Planning Commission, based on resident feedback, determined that the ordinance was not stringent enough, and the ordinance was redrafted.

Encino Neighborhood Council members and some City Council members noted that the misleading language of mansionization, observing that the purpose of the new restrictions was de-mansionization, hence the more common reference to flatlands codes and the coming hillside codes broadly as de-mansionization.

(Planning Commissioners are residents who are elected to volunteer their time. They are distinct from the Planning Department, a division of the city with paid employees.  Their role is to review projects and decide whether or not to approve.)

Adoption of 2008 Baseline Mansionization Ordinance

In June 2008, the approved BMO went into effect to regulate non-hillside areas and non-coastal single-family neighborhoods.  The eventual addendum regulating the hillside was, according to City Planner Erick Lopez, always part of the plan.  The two portions were managed piecemeal, however, because flat land is easier to work on and define without difficult topography and other geographic challenges.

Before the hillside version was drafted, the definition of a hillside property was changed to be defined by topography rather than street boundaries through a new Hillside Area Map that went into effect on May 3.

Expanding Area of Application to Hillside and Adding Guidelines 

Beginning in early 2009, five outreach meetings were conducted to obtain feedback about hillside residences and how to go about regulating the hillside.  Whereas the BMO had established regulations only on size and height, the Hillside Ordinance had three new parameters to enact on hillside homes. The new size and height limits take slopes into account and establish a base set of regulations for grading activity.  Some amendments desired by developers, such as regulating ridge lines and retaining walls, were not included.

Process of Approval and What is Next

After it is adopted, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa must sign the ordinance within five days. That will be followed by a 10-day posting by the City Clerk to allow for objections.  There will also be a 30-day waiting period to allow for any possible voter-initiated referendums before the ordinance becomes law.