Culver City leaders have heard from numerous homeowners in Culver Crest about their fears regarding oil drilling over the last decade and how it could make their homes more vulnerable to landslides and cracked foundations.
At the first City Council meeting of 2017, they are likely to hear from some of those same residents— except this time it won’t be about the dangers of oil drilling to the hillside community.
At the Jan. 9 meeting, residents of Culver Crest plan to ask the City Council for a moratorium on any type of residential building that might jeopardize the stability of the hillside. The area has been vulnerable to landslides and some homeowners, , noteworthy among them former Culver City Mayor Steven Gourley, are wary of a neighbor’s plans to build a new structure on his property in addition to a new swimming pool.
And they want the council to put a temporary stop to it.
“For those of us who have lived on the hill for years, it is quite disturbing that the city subjects building on the hill to the same minimum standards as the rest of the s flat and unsliding parts of the city. Many of us have witnessed one swimming pool fall over the edge of Cranks Road,” Gourley wrote to Mayor Jim Clarke and the rest of the council last last year.
In 2005, Cranks Road was one of the areas hit hard by a devastating landslide that causes severe damage to the road and to some hillside residences.
Gourley noted that City Hall made substantial payments to homeowners after they sued the city.
In his letter, Gourley cites precedent for a building moratorium from the early 19902 when he was a member of the council over a sewer project that originated in Los Angeles but expanded in Culver City. .
“I remind the city and its staff that the city went to court to get a temporary restraining order to protect the residents of Blair Hills and the Crest from the city of Los Angeles’ proposal to build the North Outfall Replacement Sewer were under those sections of the city. Therefore, I suggest that the City Council immediately agendize the matter of declaring a moratorium with respects to any building on Cranks and Tellefson roads until safer standards can be created for building on Culver Crest,” Gourley wrote.
The council has hired a consultant to assist them as they plan to address whether or not to create new building standards for residential development, including the so-called “McMansions”— large-scale buildings that are not physically or esthetically compatible with a neighborhood’s overall design.
On Dec. 14, 2015, city officials introduced a set of guidelines to amend the city’s municipal code governing development standards for residential zoning.
“McMansions” and residential development was a campaign topic during last year’s municipal elections.
“We need better design plans for neighborhoods and it needs to be neighborhood by neighborhood,” said City Councilman Thomas Small when asked about his thoughts on what should be done about “McMansions” during the city council campaign.
The consultant is expected to give the council a report on possible new zoning restrictions later this year.
Gary Walker contributed to this story.