Residents have voiced deep concerns that new development in their particular neighborhoods have led to “mansionization,” mega-homes that have been described to be out of character with the nearby homes in the immediate area. The moratorium only affects the zones marked “R-1-L” in those neighborhoods, and currently it applies to construction of new homes or additions that exceed 1,500 square feet.
Long Beach Planning Bureau Manager Linda Tatum explained in an email to the Signal Tribune that there are no pending projects that have been affected by the moratorium. Tatum was also asked to clarify the existing codes as they pertain to that 1,500 square-foot limitation.
“Currently, the R-1-L zone, the area subject to the moratorium, does not have development standards that limit the size of a home on a square-footage basis,” Tatum said in her email. “There are a series of development standards that collectively limit the size of a home, including height, setback, lot coverage and floor area ratio. These standards do not include a home-size limit cap, but collectively, the above-mentioned standards limit the size of a home relative to the size of the lot on which the home is built.”
Stacy McDaniel, a Los Cerritos resident, has been one of the vocal opponents of the mansionization.
“[All] of the other cities that have addressed this issue!have much more stringent development standards than Long Beach does,” McDaniel said. She criticized one aspect of the Long Beach rules that allow a floor-area ratio of .60. She said that the average size of the homes in her neighborhood is closer to 2,750 square feet, but they are all on very large lots.
McDaniel explained that the average lot size in the Los Cerritos neighborhood is almost 11,000 square feet, and many have lots that span an acre. That floor-area ratio permits builders to have a .60 ratio of total livable square feet in proportion to the lot size. In other words, a lot size of 10,000 square feet would allow a home size to span 6,000 square feet. McDaniel called that floor-area ratio an “anomaly” as she compared Long Beach rules to other cities like Sierra Madre and Los Angeles, which have taken steps to prevent mansionization.
McDaniel was among the individuals who petitioned the City to consider changes in their building codes to prevent mansionization. She has been personally affected by the new interest in building mega homes. McDaniel said one home adjacent to her property used to be 900 square feet, but new property owners, who she said were speculators, had built a 5,500-square-foot home. Half of McDaniel’s yard was now in the shadows, and her view of the street was marred, she added.
The city council readily agreed to the moratorium extension after the City’s Development Services Department requested more time to study the issue and continue to meet with residents over the issue. The department staff noted that residents may still be on vacation at this time of the year, and they did plan more community meetings to review the neighborhood concerns. At last week’s city council meeting, no individuals from the community commented on the moratorium.
The moratorium still needs to be approved by the city council in a second-reading vote. That particular vote is currently on the Sept. 6 agenda.
