"Your house destroyed our privacy" - this is what McMansionization looks like in LA [View all]

[Liberal_in_LA]

Click on the links to see new big houses dwarfing smaller ones

http://www.trbimg.com/img-5446f25d/turbine/la-1999481-me-adv-mansionization-furor-03-fo-jpg-20141021/950/950x534
Pam Roberts-Malay shows the signs she posted in her windows after the house next door was replaced with one roughly twice the size as the old one, marring her views of Century City. "Your house destroyed our privacy," one sign says. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

http://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-mansionization-20140505-story.html#page=1&lightbox=80103727
"None of us are opposed to expansion and development -- when it's respectful of the neighborhood," Traci Considine says, showing a "before" photo of a home under construction in Faircrest Heights that she believes demonstrates "mansionization." (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

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Kathleen Clark, left, and Beth Marlis look from their backyard at a two-story house under construction in Faircrest Heights. Clark and Marlis brought in mature trees to try to preserve their privacy. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

Return of 'mansionization' has some L.A. homeowners grumbling

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Builders are snapping up smaller, older homes, razing them and replacing them with bigger dwellings. Increasingly, sleek, square structures are popping up along streets known for quaint bungalows.

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But neighborhood groups have begun mobilizing, asserting that rules meant to control building sizes are still too porous. Critics argue that builders have exploited loopholes — bonuses that allow extra square footage — to erect homes too large for their lots. The recent surge of complaints prompted Michael LoGrande, director of the Department of City Planning, to tell lawmakers that more stringent controls might be needed.

In Hollywood, for example, members of a neighborhood group objected to a spec home exceeding 3,000 square feet, being built on a Stanley Avenue block lined with older, smaller homes — most of them under 2,000 square feet. Aggravated by the "out of place, enormous" residence, Amy Aquino of the Sunset Square Neighborhood Assn. said the group hired a land-use consultant to examine how it was allowed.

"Everything they were doing, hideous as it is, is all completely legal," Aquino said.

The builder behind the home, Amnon Edri, said that as long as his project meets requirements, it shouldn't be a problem.

"If the city code allows it, and you want a bigger house, you have the right to a bigger house," he said. "This is America. It's a free country."