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By Jorge Casuso
July 31 -- Property
owners must register their non-conforming
hedges with the City and adjoining
neighbors can have encroaching
portions removed at the owner’s
expense under an interim ordinance
approved by the City Council
last week.
The law, which also adds a
clause that allows a zoning
administrator to consider the
presence of vermin, will remain
in effect until the council
takes up a permanent ordinance
staff is scheduled to present
in winter 2008.
“The process should be
accelerated,” said Council
member Bobby Shriver, who ran
for a council seat three years
ago after the City threatened
to fine owners who refused to
trim their hedges to heights
set during World War II.
“The public view shared
from the front was good in the
1940s and 50s,” said Shriver,
referring to the 42-inch hedge
height limit. “But there
are people concerned about security
because of the dangers of modern
life.
“They have a much greater
interest to secure their front
yard than they did 50 years
ago,” he said.
“The process should be
accelerated,” Shriver
said. “I’m sure
staff is tired of working on
this.”
Under the interim ordinance,
owners can grow their hedges
above the 42 inch limit if the
non-conforming hedges are registered
with the City. A hedge cannot
exceed 12 feet in height unless
it is within ten feet of an
alley, in which case there is
no limit.
Tuesday’s council action
only makes minor modifications
to the interim ordinance approved
by the council in February after
hearing from homeowners fearful
the City would cut exemptions
for 900 homes with hedges, fences
and other partitions higher
than the 12 feet allowed by
the 2005 ordinance.
The 2005 law had raised the
maximum height and allowed those
who applied to keep their hedges
at the current height. It also
provided an appeals process
for those who have problems
with their neighbors' foliage
and fences.
The thorny issue of Santa Monica
hedge heights made national
headlines in 2004 and helped
launched Shriver's political
career.
The new interim ordinance includes
modifications that:
- Clarify the criteria for
evaluating objection appeal
applications to enable the
Planning Commission to effectively
evaluate the pending appeals,
- Require that all legal
nonconforming fences, walls
and hedges be registered with
the City, and
- Require hedges to be maintained
and authorizes adjoining property
owners to remove those portions
of the hedge that encroach
over the property line and
to recover all costs incurred
through a civil action pursued
by the adjoining property
owner.
The law, Shriver said, will
“impact how people live
their lives on a daily basis.
“There’s can’t
be a more important task for
government,” he said.
“Making people (who registered)
feel secure is good.”
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