Santa Monica seeks to curb oversize home construction with size limits

New homes can be no taller than 28 feet and half the size of a lot

Santa Monica (Credit: Wikimedia Commons)
Santa Monica (Credit: Wikimedia Commons)

Santa Monica officials approved a bill to temporarily cap the size of new single-family homes in the city.

The rules will limit the height of new homes in single-family neighborhoods to 28 feet and the footprint to half the size of their lots, according to Curbed. New homes are on average up to three times larger than the city’s existing stock of houses. The measure passed during a marathon Tuesday City Council session that stretched into Wednesday morning.

The bill will be in effect from February to May, but could be extended up to five years. City officials drafted in “direct response to resident concerns” over the ballooning size of homes in Santa Monica. The measure also limits the square footage on the second floor and limits the size of balconies and upper level decks.

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The measure will act as a stopgap while the city creates new long term design rules. The city found that Santa Monicans applied for around 70 demolition permits for single-family homes each year and 40 were approved. New homes are on average 5,000-square-feet.

Homes aren’t the only thing growing in Santa Monica either. The median home price is rising, too. Median prices soared 32 percent through October 2017, year-over-year, and jumped a quarter between Q2 and Q3 of 2017 alone.  [Curbed] – Dennis Lynch