Mayor Signs Anti-McMansion 'Baseline Hillside Ordinance'

New housing height and footprint restrictions signed into law Wednesday by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa will prevent "mansions" from being built on hillsides around the city, proponents said.

The mayor signed into law the third and final stage of the so-called Baseline Hillside Ordinance, first introduced in 2006.

The new regulations take into account a proposed structure's height, floor area ratio or the proportion of the building size to the size of its lot, and the steepness of the lot's slope. The ordinance also changes the way height is calculated by accounting for the slope. Officials said the rules will prevent tall box-like structures.

Villaraigosa said it can be upsetting to see "this beautiful landscape completely destroyed by a big box, a box that doesn't reflect the character of the neighborhood."

Brentwood Community Council Chair Nancy Freedman decries the boxes,  but wonders what hillside homes of the future will look like.

"The hope is that 'box' building will wane and design will be more creative given limits.  Aside from a crystal ball, it will be interesting to see what the parameters will do for the future growth of our area which, as you know, is quite extensive with a lot of hillside," she emailed.

Carol Sidlow with the Bel Air-Beverly Crest Neighborhood Council called the five-year process of crafting the regulations "an example of a city agency and public partnership that has produced one of the most vetted and one of the most clearly defined ordinances in this city's history."

“We are thrilled about the ordinance,” said Janet Turner, Pacific Palisades Community Council Chair. “People buy a small lot and try to get the most out of it . . . with very little creative design elements.”

The city's planning department conducted 13 public meetings since 2009 on the issue, involving nearly 1,000 interested people.