Many Oaks residents have grown concerned over the last five years by the increased construction of large-scale homes on small hillside lots here in The Oaks.  This development has occurred as home prices have rapidly shot upward and the supply of developable land has diminished.  The result has been that smaller one-story houses have been demolished and replaced by much larger new homes that crowd their lots and alter the density of homes in our neighborhood. 

In response to similar situations in numerous other hillside communities, Councilman Tom LaBonge held a press conference on June 5th to announce that he has made a Council motion to direct that the City’s Planning Department consider a review and an overhaul of the City’s regulations for hillside development.  The motion, intended to curb mansionization in hillside neighborhoods, would call for new limits on the size of homes that can be built relative to their lot sizes. 

This is exactly what we and many other homeowners groups throughout the city have been asking for.   At our Oaks Association Annual Meeting in March, we discussed the need for a Specific Plan that would encourage  incompatible development.  Since that March meeting, Oaks Board members have met with Renee Weitzer, Chief Deputy of the Councilman’s office, as well as representatives of the City’s Planning Department to discuss what the City might do to help us maintain the character of our neighborhood and limit over-size development. 

Ms. Weitzer and Bob Sutton of the Planning Department suggested that we consider an Interim Control Ordinance (ICO) -- a temporary set of rules that would limit large-scale development for a year or two while more long-term measures are considered.  We have drawn up a proposal for such an ICO, and in May we submitted it to the Councilman’s office.  Our proposal calls for all new development to be compatible with the existing homes in our neighborhood.   We surveyed all 700 homes in The Oaks and calculated the average Floor Area Ratio (FAR) – the total interior square footage of each home divided by the square footage of the lot it sits on.  We suggested that future construction roughly conform to the FAR of the existing homes in the neighborhood so that the existing homes do not become overwhelmed by new larger, out-of-proportion houses.  

The Councilman’s office has forwarded our ICO proposal to the City’s Planning and Land Use Management Committee (PLUM) for consideration.     

When we hear comments from PLUM, we’ll let you know on this website.  We hope you’ll join us as we work to preserve the character of our neighborhood.