El Segundo council moves to align urban lot split rules with state law, keeps one 24‑inch box tree requirement

The El Segundo City Council on May 6 moved to amend local zoning rules to comply with recent state law governing urban lot splits while keeping a local landscaping requirement that calls for at least one 24‑inch box tree in front yards.

City staff said the changes are intended to align El Segundo Municipal Code standards with Senate Bill 450, which the staff described as requiring that local urban lot split standards apply to development in R‑1 single‑family zones unless the local rule is less restrictive than state law.

Principal Planner Paul Someris presented the municipal code amendment, describing how the city’s existing urban lot split regulations—adopted after Senate Bill 9 in 2021—were reviewed by the planning commission. “The planning commission compared the city's urban lot split and the R‑1 zone standards, identified standards inconsistent with the R‑1 standards and state law, and determined which standards to apply uniformly and which ones to eliminate or modify,” Someris said. After discussion among council members and staff, the council decided to retain a front‑yard landscaping standard that requires at least one 24‑inch box tree on every lot affected by an urban lot split. The ordinance will return for a second reading at the council’s May 20 meeting.

The council and staff did not adopt a final amended code during the May 6 meeting; the item remains on the agenda for formal adoption at the May 20 meeting. The staff presentation referenced prior local rules adopted in 2022 to implement urban lot split provisions that followed state changes made by Senate Bill 9 in 2021.