A neighbor sent this photo, taken at Jacon Way and Santa Ynez/Lachman Lane, and said it was a visual reminder how this house is considerably larger than neighboring single-family homes.
In response to the CTN article on Monday (“Neighbors Cry ‘Foul’ at Oversized House on Marquez Avenue”), Palisadian Keith Turner of the Turner Law Firm responded:
“Your article sounds like another version of the August 1, 2019 story: ‘Infamous Rustic Canyon house finally demolished after 17 years of litigation’ from the Pacific View Rights Resource Center (pacificviewcenter.com).
“The reality is that sometimes the City does not enforce its own building and zoning code. If a concerned neighboring property is not getting results from the City, the legal remedy may be to file a ‘writ’ against the City or civil action against the developer/property owner at the Los Angeles County Superior Court. The City should enforce its laws, but when it doesn’t, there are men and women in black robes (judges) down at the courthouse to ensure that the law is enforced,” Turner said. Contact: 310-454-6190.
The Marquez house is being challenged by neighbors who say that the side yards do not step back as required in the City zoning codes, that assessments made in the Coastal permit are false, that the square footage calculation was incorrect (the house is 44.7 feet high—a comparable house is 34.5 feet tall), that neighbors were not notified of all of the hearings and the encroachment plane was disregarded by the city.
One neighbor wrote to City Officials: “Now, instead of gazing at the greatest body of water on earth, we look at yet another hideous piece of over-construction courtesy of a builder and (I suspect) a spec owner who care first about maximizing square footage and last about the other residents of the neighborhood in which they are building.”
Pascal Challita, Permit and Engineering Bureau Chief for the L.A. Department of Building and Safety, sent a February 22 email to the Marquez neighbors:
“I do appreciate you bringing to our attention the concerns regarding the project located at 16796 W. Marquez Ave. Permit # 18010-10000-05671. The project consists of a 3-story single-family residence with basement which is allowed per the approved Coastal Development permit DIR-2016-2566-CDP-MEL (see attached).
“As we discussed last week, LADBS is actively in the process of retrieving the archived records of the approved plans and will assign supervisory staff to re-check for any discrepancies. Appropriate action will be taken if there is any need to correct.
“Please note that concerns regarding Coastal Development permits, and the allowed height by zoning code, are outside the purview of LADBS,” Challita said.
CTN wonders, What department is responsible for “allowed height by zoning code?”
