You may have heard recent reports on the building trend that is drastically impacting LA neighborhoods, especially Mar Vista. “Mansionization” is when an older home is torn down and a larger home is built in its place. An interim ordinance adopted as an urgency measure prohibits the issue of building permits for the construction of single family dwellings in various areas, including Mar Vista. One would think that there should be a vote on this, but the city is trying to pass this on their own with no community input. This issue is directly affecting one of our clients, a 37-year resident of Mar Vista.
“As a 37-year resident of Mar Vista, and a retiree, I would like to express my opinions about the upcoming vote on the Interim Control Ordinance (ICO) as it relates to the Baseline Mansionization Ordinance.My husband and I have seen Mar Vista grow and change. We have worked hard over the years to purchase and pay for our home. We just went into escrow to sell our home. We had planned to use the proceeds from the sale to help fund our retirement. Many older Angelenos, like us, have always thought of our house as part of our retirement plan if the need to sell or downsize becomes prudent.It seems that the upcoming ICO’s are very restrictive to new construction. Our house was built in 1953 and is a modest 1700 square foot tract home. While not large, it has been comfortable for the two of us. We have recently sold our home to a builder who wishes to put a newer and bigger house on the lot. Unfortunately, our home may fall out of escrow because of the ICO. The fact is that buyers today want larger homes; whether it is to accommodate growing families, to care for elderly parents, to have room for a home office, or for a myriad of other reasons. I don’t advocate building the Mediterranean Stucco Boxes that proliferated during the late 20th and early 21st century, nor am I particularly fond of the design aesthetics of most of the current Modern Boxes that are being built today. But those are issues of design and matters of taste. Taste is subjective and can’t be easily legislated. I feel that the good intentions of the anti-mansionization ordinance and the proposed ICO, especially in Mar Vista and East Venice where the square footage of the things like the garages, patios and breezeways will be counted against the allowable square footage of the home, will have an adverse affect on property values in our area. Particularly for people with older homes on smaller lots. I fully understand wanting to maintain the character of a particular neighborhood, however I fear that no one has seriously addressed the issue of lower property values caused by the City Council and Planning Committee’s actions. Everyone is applauding the fact that there won’t be big houses, but when it comes time to sell, the cheers will stop as people will see that their older homes are less valuable to those who would wish to upgrade.Also, in looking at the communities that are listed among the 15 chosen, I do not know if the Mar Vista Community Council or Councilperson Bonin were asked to survey the community to see what we want. I know I was never asked for my thoughts, nor did I see anything on our Community Council’s website about adding Mar Vista to the list. I believe that those who have protested the McMansions the loudest and have gotten the most media attention are seen to be representative of all residents of that community. This is not representative government, in my humble opinion.Before these ordinances are put in place, I feel that the residents of each community in question should be educated so we can understand the full impact of what the ordinance means. This is only fair, and a step that seems to have been missed.I urge the Planned Land Use Committee and the City Council to consider whether passage of the greater restrictions to building will have the unintended consequence of lowering property values for the residents of the neighborhoods in question.Anyone who wishes to look at the proposed ICO can go to http://clkrep.lacity.org/onlinedocs/2014/14-0656_misc_02-20-2015.pdfMary Edwards Mar Vista”
We have been told that this will go up for vote tomorrow, February 24th, but we have not seen or been informed how we can get involved. Contact your city councilman immediately if you have questions.