Home › News › Conejo Valley
Workshop to discuss new home-building ordinance
STORY TOOLS 
More from Conejo ValleyA public workshop will take place tonight in Agoura Hills to discuss neighborhood guidelines for new homes and home additions.
The public is invited to the free session, which is scheduled for 6 p.m. in the Community Room at City Hall, 30001 Ladyface Court.
The city plans to adopt a Residential Neighborhood Compatibility Ordinance that will establish guidelines to ensure new single-family homes and additions to existing homes are compatible with the neighborhood, officials said.
The ordinance will deal with established neighborhoods that include housing tracts built by one developer, and it also will deal with the equestrian neighborhoods of Old Agoura.
"The concern in the Old Agoura neighborhood is with large homes and houses which may be out of character with the equestrian environment," said Joyce Parker, a planning consultant to the city.
The city Planning Commission conducted a study session on the topic in April and recommended the city's planning staff seek comments from residents before finalizing details of the proposal.
According to officials, the new ordinance is expected to establish a 300-foot radius of notification regarding additions to homes. That means anyone living within that radius will need to be notified.
Currently, only the adjacent neighbors are notified.
The ordinance also will also increase the types of projects going to the Planning Commission for approval, with special attention given to second-story additions.
The ordinance also will create design guidelines to address privacy and compatibility issues. It will set guidelines for the size of a home in relation to the size of the lot.
In equestrian areas, it will require new homes to have 1,500 square feet of horse area set aside, regardless of whether the current owner has horses. That is being done so future owners have the option of keeping horses.
The city's current policy requires protection of a future owner's option to have a horse but does not specify how many square feet must be set aside for horses.
(Requires free registration.)
Article discussions on this site are to support community debates of issues related to our stories and editorials.
Discussions should not stray from the subject of the story or editorial.
We do not allow the following:
We reserve the right to delete threads and/or ban users for these or other reasons we deem necessary.
Opinions are the sole responsibility of the person posting them. You agree not to post comments that are off topic, defamatory, obscene, abusive, threatening or an invasion of privacy. Violators may be banned. Click here for our full user agreement.