Treat Mega Mansions as Commercial Developments, Say Bel Air Homeowners Alliance
Developers vying for the title of “Biggest Home In Los Angeles” these days as the size dwarfs the White House and most of the hotels in the area.
Last year, Chateau des Fleurs on Stone Canyon took the title at 60,000-square feet. Built by architect William Robert Heffner on three acres at the intersection of Stone Canyon and Bellagio Road. the project features three ele- vators and an underground parking garage.
Before that, Anthony Pritzker’s 52,000-square foot home, dwarfed Mohamed Ha- did’s 48,000-square foot house in Beverly Crest.
At 944 Airole Way, the Nile Niami project is a two- story single-family dwelling with basement and ancillary structures on 3.9 acres totaling at least 85,154-square feet.
The Spelling Manor, which once topped the list at 57,000- square feet doesn’t even make the list.
By comparison, the White House floor area is a mere 55,000-square feet.
Now some residents are taking back the streets, literal- ly.
The Bel-Air Homeowners
Alliance (BAHA) has crafted a motion adopted unanimously by the Bel Air-Beverly Crest Neighborhood Council Wednesday to limit the overdevelopment of residential hillside neighborhoods and create ordinances that will reg- ulate the Wild West mentality of developers anxious to top that list.
When the Beverly Hills City Council drafted a Zero Tolerance plan for accidents in Trousdale Estates following two fatalities from runaway construction vehicles, Bel-Air residents took notice. Galva- nized by a series of egregious construction violations and Los Angeles City Councilman Paul Koretz approval of a 50- foot height variance on a near- ly 4-acre lot single-family home, residents formed the or- ganization to fight back.
“Big” has a new meaning with homes in excess of 20,000-square feet dominating the landscape. It’s not only the homes–it’s what it takes to build them. Lines of heavy haul trucks illegally waiting to haul dirt and cement mixers waiting to pour cement regu- larly running stop signs take over residential streets and un- permitted construction vehicles illegally parked, create unsafe conditions and residents are feeling the pinch.
The draft resolution comes in the wake of a Bel-Air Association (BAA) Land Use Up- date chronicling the organiza- tion’s impotence to curb viola- tions nonetheless, claiming to have had an impact on im- proving conditions.
Actually, the BAHA took the lead in this effort and they find it interesting that the BAA who came lately to the table, is taking credit.
In the letter, the BAA discusses its efforts to extend the original CC&Rs, which expired in the 1990s. That effort would have required 100-percent compliance and was dead in the water before it started. “The campaign failed simply because the vast majority of homeowners in Bel-Air did not want Deed Restrictions on their properties,” said the letter. “The Bel-Air Association no longer has any develop- ment control in our communi- ties.”
The organization claims its efforts created fewer construction trucks, placed “flag men” and curbed large scale con- struction staging on residential streets.
That may be so, but since February, before the Loma Vista accidents, the Beverly Hills Courier has reported on the efforts of resident and their struggles to bring them to the attention of Los Angeles City Council member Paul Koretz and L.A. Department of Building and Safety (LADBS).
Among the grievances outlined in the motion passed Wednesday night are the very real and dangerous traffic conditions hazarded by construction vehicles in the area. The LADBS is underfunded and understaffed, says the motion, resulting in a lack of enforcement of ordinances already on the books. These include conditions relating to hours of operation, demolition of properties without permits and building and grading without permits.
The Alliance refers to “multiple mega commercial mansion construction projects (greater than 20,000 sq. ft. each) and related excavation of lots, haul routes, equipment and the export of soil from project sites of up to almost 40,000 cu. yards in one single instance.”
The motion calls for limiting excavation volume and truck traffic on the hillsides, additional oversight and permit review of large-scale houses and scheduled permits to maintain safety on residential streets. This follows a proposal in Beverly Hills to stagger permitting and limit excavations on hillsides for the same reasons.
By Victoria Talbot
