By Mike Bonin
City Councilman, 11th District
(Editor’s note: the following zoning information was sent via email from the Councilman’s office.)
The Planning Department is working on two separate programs to address concerns about the size of houses in the City’s single-family (R1) neighborhoods: 1.) amending the Citywide ordinances (BMO and BHO) that regulate the development of single-family homes, and 2.) adopting new single-family zone options that will be applied to neighborhoods subject to Interim Control Ordinances (ICOs).
The two ordinances that regulate the size of houses in single-family neighborhoods in the City are: 1.) the Baseline Mansionization Ordinance (BMO) and 2.) the Baseline Hillside Ordinance (BHO). The BMO applies to single- family neighborhoods that are not located in designated hillside areas and are not in the Coastal Zone. The BHO applies to single-family neighborhoods that are located in designated hillside areas.
The Planning Department has prepared amendments to the Citywide BMO and BHO that are intended to tighten the rules governing development of single-family houses and address concerns from residents that new development is out of scale with existing neighborhoods.
At the same time as those amendments were being developed, the City adopted ICOs for a number of neighborhoods and they are currently being evaluated for rezoning under these new single-family zones. At the request of Councilman Mike Bonin, the Planning Department recognized that Pacific Palisades should also be considered for rezoning at this time, even though it is not currently covered by an ICO. The Planning Department agreed to rezone the areas of Pacific Palisades that wanted regulations different than proposed amendments to the Citywide BMO and BHO would provide.
The first draft of the new single-family zones included six options (R1-A, R1-B, R1-C, R1-D, R1-E, and R1-F). Based on community feedback from throughout the City, the Planning Department has refined the proposed zones to create additional options. According to the chart prepared by the Department, there are now nine zone choices for R1 properties in non-hillside areas, and three zone choices for R1 properties in hillside areas.
Pacific Palisades includes areas that are covered by the BMO and the BHO. For the BMO areas (i.e., the non-hillside properties that are not located in the Coastal Zone), the Planning Department is recommending the new single-family zone of “R1V1” (Single-Family, Variable Mass, Variation 1). This zone allows the second story of a house to vary in its location above the first story and provides for an FAR ranging from 0.65 to 0.55, depending on the size of the lot.
For those R1-zoned properties located in the hillside areas, the Department is recommending a zone change from R1 to “R1H1” (Single-Family, Hillside, Variation 1). This zone provides for an FAR ranging from 0.50 to 0.30, depending on the slope band areas of the property.
A public meeting will be held Tuesday, Sept. 13, at the Henry Medina Building, 11214 Exposition Blvd. (90064) to discuss proposed zone changes for the Palisades. Open house is 5:30 p.m., presentation at 6 p.m. and public hearing at 6:30 p.m.
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