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# City Council prevents ‘monster mansions’ from being built in city
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/city-council-prevents-monster-mansions-from-being-built-in-city/
- Published: 2003-02-27T16:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T01:40:01.000Z
- Author: Andrew Fixmer
- Tags: Government & Politics, Montana, #archive-import

*New restrictions limit size of single-family homes*

Some residents fear high real estate prices combined with low interest rates could spur a building and renovation spree that will cause a proliferation of “monster mansions” in Santa Monica.

That’s why the Santa Monica City Council unanimously approved on Tuesday building restrictions to prevent small single-family homes north of Montana Avenue and in the Sunset Park neighborhood from being knocked down and replaced with large homes.

“We have had a number of complaints from people in those neighborhoods that people are building inappropriately sized houses,” said Councilman Ken Genser. “People were looking for similar protections (from other areas of the city) for their neighborhoods too.”

The new restrictions are a temporary solution that will last for two years. However, the City Council can extend the interim ordinance until a permanent solution is enacted and put into place.

Over the last five years the Sunset Park neighborhood has seen the redevelopment of 16 parcels and the north of Montana neighborhood has experienced 15 older homes knocked down and renovated, according to city staff.

“Some of the neighbors presented the council with a collection of photos of some of these buildings,” Genser said. “It was pretty compelling.”

> “Some of the neighbors presented the council with a collection of photos of some of these buildings. It was pretty compelling.” — — KEN GENSER Santa Monica City Councilman

While the demolition of modest homes in the city is low, the economic conditions exist for “significantly more redevelopment,” according to a city staff report to the City Council.

The new restrictions will require that a home can only cover 35 percent of a piece of land, as well as limit the size of a second story and offer incentives to homeowners who keep their homes single story.

Homeowners also will have to set aside 10 percent of the land for side yards.

“We believe that this requirement creates opportunities to provide more light and air on one side of the property, while retaining design flexibility,” wrote Jay Trevino, the city’s planning manager, in a report to the City Council. “Additional open space can accommodate more landscaping, particularly trees that cannot otherwise be accommodated in a standard five-foot wide side yard.”

The City Council also set new design standards for garage doors to “ensure... garage doors are not the primary architectural features visible from the street” and prevent streets lined with “monotonous garage door facades.”

“We’ve done this before in North of Montana,” Genser said. “It seems to have worked well there, so it should help neighbors in these areas.”

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on February 27, 2003.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/022703.pdf?ref=smdp.com)