SHERMAN OAKS NEIGHBORHOOD COUNCIL LAND USE COMMITTEE REQUEST
FOR ENACTMENT OF AN INTERIM CONTROL ORDINANCE (ICO) TO LIMIT THE
SPREAD OF “MANSIONIZATION” IN SHERMAN OAKS
This proposal for an ICO is made with reference to the following facts:
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At the May, 21 2015 meeting of the Sherman Oaks (S.O.) Neighborhood
Council Land Use Committee (LUC), one of the agenda items was the subject
of community concern expressed regarding the rapidly increasing
overdevelopment (“mansionization”) of many of our fine S.O.
neighborhoods;
Notice of this LUC meeting with this agenda item was duly and timely posted
on the S.O. Neighborhood Council official website;
The meeting was called to order by the LUC Chair at 6:30 pm, the roll was
duly called by the Chair and he determined that a quorum was present;
An overflow crowd of S.O. residents attended the meeting to address and
comment upon this concern, and the LUC Chair allowed each member of the
audience who had filled out a speaker card on this topic to address the LUC
members;
Several speakers spoke in favor of allowing existing S.O. homeowners and
developers to continue with their current tear-downs of existing older homes
in order to build very large new homes which take up as much of the
buildable lot space as possible, however, the vast majority of those who spoke
on this subject expressed their view that the current “mansionization” of the
S.O. community should not be permitted to continue unabated, observed
that many more developers were targeting S.O., given the recent enactment
of IOC’s in the adjoining Studio City neighborhoods;
Those who spoke in favor of limiting the continued “mansionization” of the
S.O. neighborhood, expressed their dismay at the negative effects that this
hyper-expansion of existing S.O. residences was having upon their own
smaller, older properties, and the related negative effects upon their
immediate neighborhood, quality of life, and the loss of substantial greenery,
trees and flowering shrubs which existed before these “tear-downs” took
place;
They also requested our LUC to draft a proposed IOC applicable to S.O.,
which would substantially limit the proliferation of such “mansionization” of
our S.O. community while the Los Angeles City Council has announced that
it is working to enact a new zoning ordinance designed to address this
concern.
LUC Chair Ziff then appointed an LUC “working group” (LUCWG) to draft
such an IOC, consisting of LUC members Kalban, Maloney, and Fields, with
Ziff serving as Chairman;
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The LUCWG met on June 3, 2015, with members Ziff, Kalban, Maloney and
Fields in attendance, and duly considered the concerns expressed by the S.O.
constituents who spoke on this topic at the LUC meeting, reviewed the IOC
in effect for the adjoining Studio City community and IOC’s in effect for
other Los Angeles neighborhoods, took cognizance of the fact that the City
Council is considering the enactment of a new zoning ordinance to address
this specific concern, and determined that an IOC is necessary to protect the
S.O. Community from rapidly expanding “mansionization” until any such
new zoning ordinance can be passed and take effect. The LUCWG directed
member Fields to draft a proposed IOC for its consideration at the next
LUCWG meeting, and member Kalban agreed to prepare a sketch of what
adjoining residences would look like with different Residential Floor Area
Ratios (FAR);
Members Fields and Kalban prepared and distributed to the other LUCWG
members a draft IOC and sketches, which were duly reviewed and
considered by the LUCWG. The LUCWG then unanimously voted to present
the following draft IOC for (i) consideration and approval by the full LUC,
(ii) if approved by the LUC, for consideration and approval by the Board of
the S.O. Neighborhood Council (SONC), and (iii) if approved by SONC, for
presentation to newly elected 4th District Councilman Ryu, with the request
that he present this ICO for consideration and approval by the full Los
Angeles City Council:
INTERIM CONTROL ORDINANCE FOR THE COMMUNITY OF
SHERMAN OAKS
WHEREAS, numerous single family residences in the community of
Sherman Oaks served by the Sherman Oaks Neighborhood Council (SONC)
have been and are being torn down and then replaced and/or reconstructed
at a significant, unforeseen and accelerated pace by newly built/rebuilt
residences which have substantially greater square footage and occupy a
much larger portion of the lot than the prior residence (a process often
described as “mansionization”);
WHEREAS, large numbers of Sherman Oaks residents have expressed to
SONC and other Sherman Oaks community organizations their concerns
that the current “mansionization” of Sherman Oaks has been and is
negatively affecting their quality of life, in many instances dwarfing their
smaller, older adjoining homes, and substantially impairing the immediate
neighborhood with the loss of driveways, greenery, large older shade trees,
and flowering shrubs which existed before these “tear-downs” took place;
WHEREAS, residential development in Sherman Oaks has increased at a
significant, rapid and unforeseen pace while the Los Angeles City Council
has announced that it has under consideration a new Residential Zoning
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Ordinance to restrict the Residential Floor Area (RFA) for city real
properties zoned R1 or RE;
WHEREAS, it is of critical importance the such overdevelopment of existing
single family residences in Sherman Oaks not continue unabated so as to
prejudice, impede, or negate the City Council’s ability to prepare, consider
and vote on a new RFA Zoning Ordinance;
WHEREAS, there is a critical need to protect the Sherman Oaks community
from further unbridled “mansionization” until a new RFA Zoning
Ordinance can be passed by the City Council;
THEREFORE, be it resolved that the following actions and zoning changes
shall be effective in Sherman Oaks (within the boundaries outlined in red on
the attached Sherman Oaks Neighborhood Council map) immediately upon
the approval of this Ordinance, and shall continue in effect until the Los
Angeles City Council adopts a new RFA Zoning Ordinance applicable to the
subject of “mansionization”:
1. The Maximum Residential Floor Area Ratio (FAR) for all lots in
Sherman Oaks, taking into account the newly constructed or reconstructed residential building and any accessory buildings, shall not
exceed the limits set forth on p.1 of the attached City of Los Angeles
Baseline Mansionization Ordinance.
2. There shall be no Proportional Stories, Front Façade Stepback, or
Green Building Bonus Options available for building on lots in
Sherman Oaks, however the Proportional Stories and Front Façade
Stepback Methods of Articulating the Building Mass and the Green
Building Method set forth on pages 1, 2, and 3 of the attached City of
Los Angeles Baseline Mansionization Ordinance shall be required for
all newly built and remodeled residences in Sherman Oaks.
Respectfully Submitted by the
Sherman Oaks Land Use
Committee Working Group
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