City Council frustrated by planning appeal glut

Lolita Harper

Frustrations about the ambiguity of the city’s planning codes are

mounting as the City Council faces more project appeals -- the latest

filed Tuesday by Councilman Chris Steel.

Aggravation grew evident in council members’ comments Monday as

they reviewed two home remodels -- one on 19th Street and the other

on Flower Street -- involving second-story additions that had been

previously denied and then appealed to the council.

Councilwoman Libby Cowan said the Planning Department should

handle some projects.

“Quite frankly, I am frustrated,” Cowan said about the West 19th

Street home. “I don’t understand why in the world we are having to

see this or why it was even denied.”

The same comments were evident when the council reviewed the

Flower Street home and had subdued a little in the later hours when

city leaders were asked to scrutinize the city’s current design

review guidelines.

Overall, council members said they would like to see more concrete

guidelines for home remodeling, especially for second-story

additions, to give residents more confidence in upgrading their

properties.

“These architects painstakingly adhere to all our city codes, but

when it comes to the design review process, it’s a crapshoot,”

Councilman Gary Monahan said.

Monahan, who initially appealed the denials of both second-story

projects before them that evening, said homeowners such as Alex

Hernandez on 19th Street should not be subjected to the type of

scrutiny he received from the Planning Commission and City Council.

City leaders were concerned about the number of bedrooms planned

for Hernandez’s larger home, saying the renovated home could easily

be converted to rental housing.

Mesa Verde resident Robin Leffler, who came into the political

spotlight when she fought a massive home remodel project two doors

down from her on Samoa Place in 1999, said she opposed Hernandez’s

project, calling it a “poorly balanced design with severe massing.”

She provided a detailed presentation, using Hernandez’s own

blueprints on where walls could be constructed and kitchens could be

added to make complete and separate living areas.

Steel had the same concerns and questioned -- for the second time

that evening -- Hernandez’s purpose for remodeling .

“What are your intentions?” Steel asked pointedly.

To which Hernandez bluntly answered: “This is an investment, and I

am maximizing the square footage. Why am I building it this big?

Because I can.”

Cowan wondered why others were even concerned with the number of

bedrooms when it is not within the city’s legal authority to regulate

that.

“We hear a lot about this at too many hearings,” Cowan said. “It

can’t become three apartments because this is a [low residential]

zone. ... Right now, [homeowners] have the right to rent out rooms.

That is the law.”

To quell some of the contentious issues that have surrounded home

remodels, council members voted unanimously to review the city’s

current design standards, which have been the reason most projects

were initially denied.

Council members agreed that the requirements needed to be scaled

back to give people a better understanding of what is acceptable.

Stricter guidelines would leave less room for guessing and create

less controversy, officials said.

Scrutiny of the guidelines will start at the Planning Commission

level, where two public hearings will take place. A recommendation

will then be sent to the City Council for action.

In the meantime, council members will listen to and rule on

controversial remodels, as long as they keep getting appealed and

re-appealed and re-appealed.

The latest appeal is of a denial of a second-story addition to an

Eastside home by the city’s zoning administrator that the Planning

Commission then overturned. Obviously, discontent with the plans for

the Broadway home has brought the final planning decision to the City

Council.

Steel was unavailable for comment Wednesday.

Monahan is not amused.

“Why are we even putting homeowners through so many hoops and so

much negativity when all they want to do is raise a family and

increase their property values?” Monahan asked. “I think Chris Steel

has his priorities all wrong. ... I don’t think he understands

private property rights at all.”

* LOLITA HARPER covers Costa Mesa. She may be reached at (949)

574-4275 or by e-mail at lolita.harper@latimes.com.