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Hermosa Beach planning commission approves lot line adjustment and variance to correct longstanding encroachment on First Street
Summary
The Planning Commission on Oct. 21 approved a lot line adjustment and variance to resolve a residential encroachment between 1102 and 1110 20th First Street, finding the change would regularize an as‑built condition and not change the visible built environment.
The Hermosa Beach City Planning Commission on Oct. 21 adopted a resolution approving a lot line adjustment and a variance to eliminate a longstanding encroachment between 1102 and 1110 20th First Street.
Associate Planner Jake Whitney told commissioners the proposal would transfer a net 477 square feet of land—481 square feet from 1102 20 First Street to 1110 20 First Street and 4 square feet in the opposite direction—so that each house sits fully inside its lot. Whitney said the home at 1102 20 First Street was enlarged under city permits in 1953 and 1963 but later was found to encroach as much as 11½ feet into the neighboring lot. The adjustment would increase 1102 20 First Street from 3,353 to 3,830 square feet and decrease 1110 20 First Street from 3,692 to 3,215 square feet; the smaller lot would remain substandard under the 4,000 square‑foot minimum for new lots in the R‑1 zone, Whitney said.
The application includes a variance to allow the reduced lot size and a remaining noncompliant side‑yard setback of about 1.16 feet. Whitney said staff found the project consistent with the city general plan and that the project qualified for a Class 5 categorical exemption under the California Environmental Quality Act, because the change fixes a property line error and does not alter the visible built environment.
Property owner Richard Binder and adjacent owner Sharon Arduini were present and spoke briefly; Binder said the two property owners had settled the private dispute and supported the official correction. A caller who identified herself as Laura Pena urged the city to consider streamlining similar corrective adjustments in the future and asked whether staff could handle purely administrative fixes.
Commissioners discussed whether the encroachment resulted from historical surveying and as‑built conditions. Commissioner Flaherty and others said the record shows this is primarily a boundary and survey irregularity that predates current rules. The commission voted 5‑0 to adopt the resolution approving Lot Line Adjustment 25‑01 and Variance 25‑01, subject to the conditions in the draft resolution.
The resolution and conditions of approval will be filed with the project record and are available from the Community Development Department.
