Mansionization

The issue of mansionization was raised at all three public forums sponsored so far this month by the South Laguna Civic Assn., Oct. 5; the Arts Alliance, Saturday; and the American Assn. of University Women, The Laguna Beach Woman's Club, the Laguna Branch of the League of Women Voters and Laguna Beach Seniors Inc., Tuesday. No other topic was common to the three forums. By Tuesday's broad-based forum, which had an audience of about 75, the candidates had honed their responses on mansionization: They all agreed that neighborhood compatibility was key. Kelly Boyd tacked on view preservation as a consideration.

Barbara Diamond The "Mansionization" of Laguna rose out of the ashes of the 1993 fires. Monstrous homes were built to replace the homes that burned. As buildable lots became more rare, buyers began to snap up Laguna's "charmers" with an eye to converting the cottages to castles. The cumulative effect on neighborhoods and the city as a whole came to be called mansionization. It was a hot topic during the Vision Laguna process, and a growing concern to city officials.

-- Barbara Diamond More than 50 local folks attended a special Planning Commission meeting Monday on mansionization. The meeting was held to review short-, mid-, and long-term recommendations the commission has worked on at the City Council's direction to stem the tide of increasingly larger homes being constructed, which many complain are ill-suited to the city. The recommendations came out of 10 months of workshops on the mansionization issue.

-- Barbara Diamond Big, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. "A 2,000-square-foot house can look like a mansion because of the design and an 8,000-square-foot home can look like a cottage, putting a premium on quality design," said Councilman Steven Dicterow. It's the appearance that counts, the City Council voted 4-0 Tuesday, when it endorsed revisions to the zoning code meant to control "mansionization." The council did some fine tuning, but nothing the commissioners couldn't swallow.

The pace of revisions to the land usage part of the city's general plan drew mixed reviews from a citizens panel this week. The panel held a discussion on the topic for Village Laguna members on Monday. Cities are required to adopt a general plan, which includes seven mandated elements. Laguna Beach's land use element was last updated 23 years ago. Former Laguna Beach planning commissioner and past Village Laguna President Doug Reilly moderated the discussion. "The element is one of several documents used to shape Laguna," Reilly said.

We love our neighborhoods in South Laguna — indeed, the scale of them is one of the things that make us feel at home and comfortable here. The city has some rules designed to preserve the character of our neighborhoods, such as the requirement in the design-review section of the municipal code that new structures be compatible in scale with their neighbors. In 2000, the City Council directed the planning commission to "consider ways to moderate the size of new homes and remodels" in Laguna Beach.

WHAT: The latest on alleviating mansionization. WHAT'S BEHIND IT: City officials and residents became increasingly concerned about the cumulative effect of larger homes that are out of character with the neighborhoods where they are being built and at the expense of some of Laguna's charm and character. The high cost of real estate has been blamed by some for the phenomenon, which has come to be called mansionization. While creeping mansionization has been underway for years, it became more visible in Laguna Beach after the 1993 fire, when so many homes were being built at the same time.

The Planning Commission is considering whether to recommend changes to city ordinances in order to allow underground parking in commercial or light industrial zones without leading to outsized commercial buildings. A draft of the changes was reviewed at the Oct. 24 meeting, but the commission wanted more information before making a decision on whether to amend city zoning codes and the local coastal plan pertaining to mansionization. The City Council asked the commission and staff to review and make recommendations that would reduce the confusion that has arisen when height restrictions in ordinances related to mansionization in residential zones are applied to commercial or light industrial buildings, which was never considered when the ordinances were passed.

Property owners may have to dig deeper in their pockets if they want to dig deeper in the hillsides to build or substantially alter homes. The City Council on Tuesday approved measures designed to help minimize the adverse effects grading work has on neighbors. "We are not talking about one truckload of dirt," said Councilwoman Toni Iseman, who chaired the council sub-committee that studied the issue. "We are talking about air-quality issues, noise issues, neighborhood disturbances and problems on our roads.

Judging by this week's Planning Commission meeting, it is clear that the issue -- problem, some would argue -- of "mansionization" is not going away any time soon. Already a major part of the Vision Laguna discussion, the trend toward large, multilevel homes sped up dramatically during the city's rebuilding following the 1993 fires. And it has unquestionably altered the landscape of the city. Views are cut off. The hillsides are marked by one giant home after another.

The Planning Commission is considering whether to recommend changes to city ordinances in order to allow underground parking in commercial or light industrial zones without leading to outsized commercial buildings. A draft of the changes was reviewed at the Oct. 24 meeting, but the commission wanted more information before making a decision on whether to amend city zoning codes and the local coastal plan pertaining to mansionization. The City Council asked the commission and staff to review and make recommendations that would reduce the confusion that has arisen when height restrictions in ordinances related to mansionization in residential zones are applied to commercial or light industrial buildings, which was never considered when the ordinances were passed.

The issue of mansionization was raised at all three public forums sponsored so far this month by the South Laguna Civic Assn., Oct. 5; the Arts Alliance, Saturday; and the American Assn. of University Women, The Laguna Beach Woman's Club, the Laguna Branch of the League of Women Voters and Laguna Beach Seniors Inc., Tuesday. No other topic was common to the three forums. By Tuesday's broad-based forum, which had an audience of about 75, the candidates had honed their responses on mansionization: They all agreed that neighborhood compatibility was key. Kelly Boyd tacked on view preservation as a consideration.

We love our neighborhoods in South Laguna — indeed, the scale of them is one of the things that make us feel at home and comfortable here. The city has some rules designed to preserve the character of our neighborhoods, such as the requirement in the design-review section of the municipal code that new structures be compatible in scale with their neighbors. In 2000, the City Council directed the planning commission to "consider ways to moderate the size of new homes and remodels" in Laguna Beach.

Property owners may have to dig deeper in their pockets if they want to dig deeper in the hillsides to build or substantially alter homes. The City Council on Tuesday approved measures designed to help minimize the adverse effects grading work has on neighbors. "We are not talking about one truckload of dirt," said Councilwoman Toni Iseman, who chaired the council sub-committee that studied the issue. "We are talking about air-quality issues, noise issues, neighborhood disturbances and problems on our roads.

The pace of revisions to the land usage part of the city's general plan drew mixed reviews from a citizens panel this week. The panel held a discussion on the topic for Village Laguna members on Monday. Cities are required to adopt a general plan, which includes seven mandated elements. Laguna Beach's land use element was last updated 23 years ago. Former Laguna Beach planning commissioner and past Village Laguna President Doug Reilly moderated the discussion. "The element is one of several documents used to shape Laguna," Reilly said.

We find ourselves in a reelection year for three seats on City Council and this means ? nothing really, as for the most part we have the same people running again. I mean what's new about this town? Not the powers that run our town. Sure it is stated that Laguna Beach is one of the hippest towns round with bigger and flashier new homes. We have MTV. The Montage. Mozambique. And we still have Aliso Creek ? 17 miles of polluted creek that discharges 3 to 5 million gallons of urban runoff into our ocean every day. Not even the skimboarders seem to care, even though they compete in a contest there every year with no concern of just how polluted that beach has become.

Carol Snip Should rebuilding be allowed in landslide areas such as Bluebird Canyon? My vote would be no. At least not until I am comfortable knowing that decisions made by the building and planning commission would protect those good people who rebuild their homes modestly -- but not if people gobble up the land for future "mansionization" of Laguna Beach. In other words, would some of these homes be replaced with gigantic mansions that incorporate multi-lots?

WHAT: The latest on alleviating mansionization. WHAT'S BEHIND IT: City officials and residents became increasingly concerned about the cumulative effect of larger homes that are out of character with the neighborhoods where they are being built and at the expense of some of Laguna's charm and character. The high cost of real estate has been blamed by some for the phenomenon, which has come to be called mansionization. While creeping mansionization has been underway for years, it became more visible in Laguna Beach after the 1993 fire, when so many homes were being built at the same time.

-- Barbara Diamond Big, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. "A 2,000-square-foot house can look like a mansion because of the design and an 8,000-square-foot home can look like a cottage, putting a premium on quality design," said Councilman Steven Dicterow. It's the appearance that counts, the City Council voted 4-0 Tuesday, when it endorsed revisions to the zoning code meant to control "mansionization." The council did some fine tuning, but nothing the commissioners couldn't swallow.

Ah, the tear-down. The quintessential piece of Southern California real estate, the little ramshackled, falling-apart home that's worth a couple million dollars. Well, the home's not really worth anything. But the land -- oh, the land -- is worth a little something, especially once a three-story, giant box of a home is plopped down where that "tear-down" once so cutely stood. It's a phenomena that's come to be called "mansionization," and it's striking beach communities all across Southern California.