The Baseline Mansionization Ordinance Passed

New McMansion Law: Everybody had a Say
Perspective By Ken Draper

The McMansion craze flatlined this week. On Tuesday, the City Council passed the anti-McMansion ordinance … technically the Baseline Mansionization Ordinance … making it difficult for property owners to build houses seriously out of proportion to the rest of the neighborhood. Most, but not all, of LA’s affected citizens were happy.

In looking back over the tons of testimony, it appeared that support for the new bill was about 60%. At one mid-city neighborhood council meeting … when they addressed the McMansion issue … the 150 or so stakeholders present were about evenly divided.

The idea behind the Mansionization ordinance is to stop the proliferation of oversized and out-of-context building in LA’s residential neighborhoods. Property owners putting up three story houses, built to the property lines on all sides, for example … and, altering the look, feel, comfort and property values of the community.

Among the bill’s supporters were residents who felt the historic feel and ambiance of their neighborhood were being destroyed. At the least jeopardized. And, those who simply live by the principle that any change is bad.

The opposition came from folks who wanted to increase the size of their living space by building up and out on their current property instead of moving to larger homes. The remodel was cheaper to accomplish than the purchase of another house. And, those who simply believe that an owner has the right to do with his/her property what he/she wishes. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

The point of this column, however, is not about who celebrated and who didn’t over the passage of the Mansionization law. It’s about the numbers of individual LA citizens, businesses and organizations that participated in the process.

Often with policy issues at City Hall, the loudest protest is not over agreement or disagreement with the outcome, but over the lack of public participation. This appears to be a case where everybody had a say in the process.

Councilman Tom LaBonge’s motion to create the Baseline Mansionization Ordinance was approved by the Council almost two years ago. The record since … plug Council File #06-1293 into the Council File Index search box … shows an exceptional history of public input. Public comment at numerous Council and PLUM meetings. Community Impact Statements and letters form neighborhood councils, homeowner groups and other community organizations … all across the city. Sixty or more people had their say last Tuesday in Council Chambers. At last count, a third of the city’s neighborhood councils had agendized mansionization at some point along the way. Media provided coverage. More than 20 related stories or opinion pieces in CityWatch alone. City Council members held hearings and input opportunities.

In contrast to City Hall business as usual, this was not a law constructed in a vacuum or behind closed doors. In one six-month stretch, it was heard in Council’s Planning and Land Use Committee four times.

And someone appeared to be listening. This, for example, from the Background section of the ordinance cover pages: When the first mansionization ordinance was proposed in May of 2007 it attempted to find one FAR (Floor Area Ratio) that could be applied to all single-family zones. That approach was resoundingly rejected by the general public and the City Planning Commission.”

There’s a difference between being listened to and being agreed with. While some who opposed the new ordinance are not happy that they were not agreed with … it appears that everyone was listened to.

Maybe this time City Hall got it right. The making of a new policy and LA’s empowered advisors had a say.

)Read ordinance and testimony at www.lacity.org – enter #06-1293 into the File Index search box.