City panel seeks curbs on oversized houses
June Casagrande
NEWPORT BEACH -- One family’s dream home can be a neighbor’s worst
nightmare -- a problem summed up in older parts of the city as
“mansionization.”
In hopes of putting the brakes on the phenomenon of building huge
homes on relatively small lots, a resolution of the city’s Environmental
Quality Affairs Citizens Advisory Committee will ask the City Council on
Tuesday to have city workers look into whether design standards can be
set for the city.
“It’s changing the character of neighborhoods by putting huge mansions
on 30-foot lots,” said Elaine Lindhoff, a member of the committee who
said that more and more three-story homes with decks on top are cropping
up in her Peninsula Point neighborhood. “These houses dwarf the two-story
houses on either side.”
Those who agree it’s a problem -- and not everyone does -- disagree
about how to address it. Some say the city should act now to put design
standards in place. Others say that’s what the city’s general plan update
process is for.
The city does have the option of crafting zoning ordinances and other
guidelines that could rein in the phenomenon, said Assistant City Manager
Sharon Wood, but it’s up to the council to decide whether that’s the best
way to approach it.
“It came up as a concern at almost every community workshop,” City
Councilman Steve Bromberg said. “People are definitely concerned about
it.”
Most parts of the city allow a house’s square footage to be double the
buildable area of the lot. Technically, this means that a two-story house
could cover the entire ground of the lot it sits on, not counting
setbacks. A three-story house would have to be somewhat narrower to keep
within the same square footage requirements. On Balboa Island, Bromberg’s
district, standards are a little more strict because of the terrain of
the island neighborhood. The house size can only be 1 1/2 times the
buildable land area.
Though “mansionization” per se is not taking place there to a
significant degree, Bromberg said innovative architecture is resulting in
three-story houses being built on the island that are within the 29-foot
height limit and other city standards. Bromberg said he is considering
opposing such three-story structures on Balboa Island.
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