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Staff outlines proposed convex-lot (building-height) guidance; appeal targeted for March
Summary
Community development staff presented proposed policy guidance defining when a convex-lot determination applies (staff cited a >10% slope threshold and focus on natural/unaltered grade); the director intends a policy-level, director's determination with appeals to the planning commission and an appeal scheduled for March.
Community development staff updated the Hermosa Beach Planning Commission on proposed guidance for convex-lot building-height determinations, explaining the rule's origins and recommending a clearer, director-level policy so applicants and staff have consistent expectations.
Director Becker and assistant planner Didi Tran summarized the code history dating to a 1994 staff report and ordinance. Tran said convex-lot determinations were intended for "those properties where the ground level arches upward along a property line" and noted staff is now proposing objective guidance so the community-development director can consistently analyze requests. Staff cited one operational guideline as a slope threshold "greater than 10%" and emphasized the analyses should use an unaltered or natural grade and be considered in the context of a specific proposed development.
Staff described the guidance as a policy (director's determination) rather than an ordinance and said any appeal of a director's decision would come to the planning commission; staff also said an appeal using the proposed guidance is scheduled for the commission's March meeting. Commissioners asked technical and measurement questions about how the 10% is calculated (two corner elevation points divided by parcel length, use of two-foot interval topographic data, and averaging methods when neighboring grades differ) and sought clarity on basements and instances where grading can eliminate convexity.
Director Becker said the goal is transparency and a consistent handout for applicants. "That's our goal is to make it so that it's transparent and universal and digestible," she said. Staff expects to apply the guidance to pending cases while continuing to refine the policy.
The commission did not take a final action; staff framed the guidance as an internal policy to be applied by the community-development director, with appeals to the planning commission.
