As an update to a recent post titled Mansionization Concerns in Many Areas of Long Beach, I wrote about a specific property at 181 La Verne Ave. in Belmont Shore. The owner was looking to the city’s Building and Planning Commission for a height variance to forgive the already built, third-story storage room adjacent to the roof-top deck.
At the time of my last post, the city Planning staff was of the opinion that the owner be given the varience due to the fact that the building had already been done and that it was at the back of the home, far away from the street.
Thankfully, a group of neighborhood residents noticed the code violation (city inspectors had not) and then strongly opposed the variance as part of their concerns for “mansionization“ and over-building in Belmont Shore.
Low and behold, the Planning Commission, with a unanimous vote, did not approve the owner’s petition for a third-story variance. The builder must now make corrections to the home to bring it back into code. Hopefully this will bring a very positive light to the need for keeping the historical value to a wonderful beach community of Long Beach and let other builders know that the city is, perhaps, not going to allow a “build it now and forgive later” policy for those who try to exceed code limits.
