(Title amended by Ord. No. 150,799, Eff. 6/5/78.)
A. Requirement. No building or structure shall be erected or enlarged, and no building permit shall be issued therefor, on any lot in any R3 or less restrictive zone (as such order of restrictiveness is set forth in Subsection B. of Section 12.23); or on any lot in the RD1.5, RD2 or RD3 Zones; if such lot abuts a major or secondary highway or collector street unless the one-half of the highway or collector street which is located on the same side of the center of the highway or collector street as such lot has been dedicated and improved for the full width of the lot so as to meet the standards for such highway or collector street provided in Subsection H. of this section; and further provided that in the case of either a corner lot or an L- shaped interior lot abutting a major or secondary highway and a local street which intersect, that one-half of the local street, on the same side of the center of said local street as such lot, has been dedicated and improved for that portion of said lot or lots within 300 feet of the ultimate property line of said highway so as to meet the standards for local streets provided in Subsection H. of this section and provide adequate right-turn ingress to and egress from the highway; or such dedication and improvement has been assured to the satisfaction of the City Engineer respectively. As used in this section, the Center/Control line of the arterial or collector street shall mean the center of those arterial or collector streets as shown on the Citywide Circulation System Map of the Circulation Element of the General Plan or, with respect to collector streets, on the adopted community plans of the Land Use Element of the General Plan on file in the offices of the Department of City Planning. (Amended by Ord. No. 184,718, Eff. 3/4/17.)
1. The maximum area of land required to be so dedicated shall not exceed 25% of the area of any such lot which was of record on March 1, 1962 in the Los Angeles County Recorder’s Office. In no event shall such dedication reduce the lot below a width of 50 feet or an area of 5,000 square feet.
2. No such dedication for any highway, collector street or any other street shall be required with respect to those portions of such a lot occupied by a legally existing main building which is to remain.
3. No additional improvement shall be required on such a lot where complete roadway, curb, gutter and sidewalk improvements exist within the present dedication contiguous thereto.
4. No building or structure shall be erected on any such lot after March 1, 1962 within the dedication required by Subsection H. of this section.
5. No dedication shall be required where the existing right-of-way is equal to or greater than the street standard, even where the improved sidewalk does not meet the standard dimension. (Amended by Ord. No. 184,718, Eff. 3/4/17.)
6. Where the existing improved roadway meets or exceeds the street standard, no dedication shall be required except as necessary to bring the abutting sidewalk dimension into compliance with the street standard as depicted in the most recent version of the Bureau of Engineering’s standard plan number S470. (Added by Ord. No. 184,718, Eff. 3/4/17.)
7. Nothing herein shall preclude the decision maker on a discretionary entitlement from requiring a dedication or improvement greater than what is set forth in this section, if the decision maker determines that a greater dedication or improvement bears an essential nexus and rough proportionality to a project impact. (Added by Ord. No. 184,718, Eff. 3/4/17.)
8. For streets accompanied by a parallel frontage and/or service road and for streets designated as divided streets, existing roadway dimensions are deemed to be in compliance with the street standards and no additional dedication or improvement is required. A dedication for sidewalk improvement shall be required, however, as necessary to bring the abutting sidewalk dimension into compliance with the street standard. (Added by Ord. No. 184,718, Eff. 3/4/17.)
9. Additional dedication and improvement requirements may be imposed in order to ensure compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. (Added by Ord. No. 184,718, Eff. 3/4/17.)
10. Notwithstanding the above, in order to obtain street consistency, the Bureau of Engineering on a by-right project, or the decision maker on a discretionary entitlement, may modify this section’s dedication and improvement requirements for meandering streets or portions of streets that lack uniform roadway widths, including for divided streets, and streets accompanied by a parallel frontage and/or service road. (Added by Ord. No. 184,718, Eff. 3/4/17.)
The guidelines developed by Streets Standards Committees shall be consistent with the goals and purpose of the Transportation Element of the General Plan as determined by the City Planning Commission. These guidelines shall also establish a procedure for notice to interested persons, including the Council-member of the district where the property is located.
B. Exceptions. (Amended by Ord. No. 172,315, Eff. 12/31/98.) The provisions of Subsection A. of this section shall not apply to the following construction projects:
1. One single-family dwelling with customary accessory buildings when erected on a vacant lot.
2. Additions and accessory buildings incidental to a legally existing residential building, provided no additional dwelling units or guest rooms are created.
3. Additions and accessory buildings incidental to a legally existing non-residential building, provided that the total cumulative floor area of all such additions and accessory buildings shall not exceed 500 square feet.
C. Dedication Procedure.
1. Any person required to dedicate land by the provisions of this section shall make an offer to dedicate, properly executed by all parties of interest including beneficiaries in deeds of trust as shown by a current preliminary title report prepared by a Title Company approved by the City Engineer for that purpose. The trustee under a deed of trust shall not be required to execute the dedicatory instrument, unless, in the view of the City Engineer, such execution is necessary to satisfactorily dedicate the land. Such report shall be furnished by the applicant. Such offer shall be on a form approved by the City Attorney and the City Engineer; be in such terms as to be binding on the owner, the owner’s heirs, assigns or successors in interest and shall continue until the City Council accepts or rejects such offer or until one year from the date such offer is filed with the City Engineer for processing, whichever occurs first. The offer shall provide that the dedication will be complete upon acceptance by the City Council. The offer shall be recorded by the City Engineer in the Office of the County Recorder of Los Angeles County upon its acceptance by the City Engineer. The City Engineer shall accept or reject the offer for recordation within 10 days after it is filed with the City Engineer. The offer shall thereafter be promptly processed by the City Departments concerned and submitted to the City Council, in order to complete the dedication within one year. If the offer is rejected by the City Council or not processed within one year, the City Engineer shall issue a release from such offer which shall be recorded in the Office of the County Recorder unless the parties making the offer wish to have the time extended. (Amended by Ord. No. 152,425, Eff. 6/29/79, Oper. 7/1/79.)
D. Improvement Procedure.
1. Any person required to make improvements by the provisions of this section shall either make and complete the same to the satisfaction of the City Engineer or shall file with the City Engineer a bond in such an amount as the City Engineer shall estimate and determine to be necessary to complete all of the improvements required.
2. Such bond may be either a cash bond or a bond executed by a company authorized to act as a surety in this State. The bond shall be payable to the City and be conditioned upon the faithful performance of any and all work required to be done, and that should such work not be done or completed within the time specified, the City may at its option, cause the same to be done or completed, and the parties executing the bond shall be firmly bound under a continuing obligation for the payment of all necessary costs and expenses incurred in the construction thereof. The bond shall be executed by the owner of the lot as principal, and if a surety bond, shall also be executed by a corporation authorized to act as a surety under the laws of the State of California.
3. Whenever the owner elects to deposit a cash bond, the City is authorized, in the event of any default on the owner’s part, to use any or all of the deposit money to cause all of the required work to be done or completed, and for payment of all costs and expenses therefor. Any money remaining shall be refunded to the owner.
4. When a substantial portion of the required improvement has been completed to the satisfaction of the City Engineer and the completion of the remaining improvements is delayed due to conditions beyond the owner’s control, the City Engineer may accept the completed portion and consent to a proportionate reduction of the surety bond in an amount estimated and determined by the City Engineer to be adequate to assure the completion of the required improvements remaining to be made.
5. Whenever a surety bond has been filed in compliance with this section, the City is authorized, in the event of any default on the part of the principal, to enforce collection, under such bond, for any and all damages sustained by the City by reason of any failure on the part of the principal faithfully and properly to do or complete the required improvements, and in addition may cause all of the required work to be done or completed, and the surety upon the bond shall be firmly bound for the payment of all necessary costs thereof.
6. The term of the bond shall begin on the date of the deposit of cash or the filing of the surety bond, and shall end upon the date of the completion to the satisfaction of the City Engineer of all improvements required to be made. The fact of such completion shall be endorsed by a statement thereof signed by the City Engineer, and the deposit shall be returned to the owner, or the surety bond may be exonerated at any time thereafter.
7. For purposes of this section, improvement shall be considered as satisfactorily assured when the City Engineer accepts the cash or surety bond provided for herein or the improvements required to be made have been completed to the City Engineer’s satisfaction. When the City Engineer accepts the bond or the work has been completed to the City Engineer’s satisfaction, the City Engineer shall notify the Department of Building and Safety thereof.
E. Issuance Of Building Permits After Certification Of Dedication And Improvement. When all dedication and improvements required by this section have been completed or satisfactorily assured a building permit may be issued.
F. Fees. (Amended by Ord. No. 184,718, Eff. 3/4/17.) In addition to all other required fees, the following fees shall be charged for services provided for processing applications pursuant to the provisions of this section:
1. A nonrefundable fee as set forth in Section 11.12 for every property requiring the City Engineer to investigate and determine whether the provisions of this section require a dedication of land or improvement to land.
2. A fee as set forth in Section 11.12 for Bureau of Engineering services for processing real estate transfer documents for every property for which the provisions of this section require a dedication of land.
3. A nonrefundable fee in the amount of $1,970 paid to the Department of City Planning for processing waiver requests pursuant to the provisions of Subsection I. of this section.
4. A nonrefundable fee of $1,570 paid to the Department of City Planning for processing appeals pursuant to the provisions of Subsection I. of this section.
G. Lots Affected By Street Widening. (Amended by Ord. No. 125,340, Eff. 9/23/63.) On a lot which is affected by street widening required by the provisions of this section all required yards, setbacks, parking area, loading space and building locations for new buildings or structures or additions to buildings or structures shall be measured and calculated from the new lot lines being created by said widening; provided, however, that for the purpose of establishing the required front yard depth on a frontage where the ultimate street line has been determined under the provisions of this section, the depths of all existing front yards may be measured from such ultimate street line instead of the front lot line.
In applying all other provisions of this Article, the area of such lot shall be considered as that which existed immediately prior to such required street widening.
H. Improvement Standards. (Amended by Ord. No. 150,799, Eff. 6/5/78.)
1. All arterial and collector streets shall be constructed and improved in accordance with the standards adopted by the City Planning Commission pursuant to LAMC 17.05 B. (Amended by Ord. No. 184,718, Eff. 3/4/17.)
2. (Amended by Ord. No. 173,217, Eff. 6/11/00.) All streets not designated major or secondary highways or collector streets, but that intersect said highways, shall be dedicated to a maximum width of sixty (60) feet. Roadway and parkway widths shall conform to those standards adopted by the City Planning Commission in accordance with LAMC 17.05 B., depending upon street classification type. Whenever uncertainty exists as to the application of the provisions of this section, or in instances of streets so classified as requiring less than 60 feet of dedication in order to conform to the minimum width standards as adopted in accordance with Section 17.05 B. of this Code, the City Engineer shall make any necessary determinations.
3. All improvements required to be made by the provisions of this subsection shall be done in accordance with the current applicable provisions of the Standard specifications for Public Works Construction adopted by the City Council.
4. The City Engineer may approve and allow such variations from the aforesaid requirements as the City Engineer determines are made necessary by the conditions of the terrain and the existing improvements contiguous to the property involved.
I. Waiver and Appeals. (Amended by Ord. No. 184,718, Eff. 3/4/17.)
1. This subdivision shall constitute the exclusive mechanism for waivers and appeals of dedication and improvement requirements under this section. Waivers of dedication or improvement requirements may not be granted by City Council motion.
2. Waivers for By-Right Projects. Any person seeking a waiver of this section’s dedication or improvement requirements for a project that does not require a discretionary entitlement shall file an application for a waiver with the Director of Planning.
(a) Notice. Within 10 calendar days of the receipt of an application for a waiver, the Director shall mail notice of the requested waiver to the following individuals and entities with a notice that all comments shall be submitted to the Director no later than 14 calendar days following mailing of the notice:
(1) Owners of property across the street or alley from the subject property;
(2) Owners of property with frontage along the same street that has a common corner with or that abuts the subject property;
(3) Owners of property with frontage along the same street that has a common corner with or that abuts any properties listed in Subparagraphs (1) and (2) above;
(4) The Council member of the district where the subject property is located; and
(5) The Department of Transportation and Bureau of Engineering.
(6) Notification pursuant to this section shall also be provided to Advisory Agency members for waivers that requires the modification of a Map.
a. Any person seeking a waiver that requires a modification of a Map shall submit a map modification request and payment of map modification fees to the Bureau of Engineering as required by Section 17.11.
(b) Findings. The Director may waive, reduce or modify the required dedication or improvement as appropriate after making any of the following findings, in writing, based on substantial evidence in the record:
(1) The dedication or improvement requirement does not bear a reasonable relationship to any project impact.
(2) The dedication or improvement is not necessary to meet the City’s mobility needs for the next 20 years based on guidelines the Streets Standards Committee has established.
(3) The dedication or improvement requirement is physically impractical.
(c) Written Determination. The Planning Director shall issue a determination regarding the request no sooner than 15 calendar days following mailing of the notice described above, and no later than 75 days from receipt of the waiver application, or within any additional period mutually agreed upon by the applicant and the Planning Director. The Planning Director shall mail the determination letter to all individuals to whom notice of the application was provided.
(d) Appeal. Any person required to dedicate land or make improvements pursuant to this section may appeal the Planning Director’s decision to the Area Planning Commission. The appeal shall be filed within 15 calendar days of the date of mailing of the Planning Director’s determination letter. Such appeal shall be made in writing, shall be filed at the Department of City Planning’s public counter, shall state in clear and concise language the grounds for the appeal, and shall be accompanied by a filing fee in the amount specified above.
(1) Before acting on any appeal, the Area Planning Commission shall set the matter for a hearing, giving at least 15 calendar days’ notice to the individuals identified in Paragraph 2.(a) above.
(2) On appeal, the Area Planning Commission shall consider the waiver request de novo based on the findings set forth in Subdivision 2.(b) above. The Area Planning Commission shall act to approve or deny the appeal within 75 calendar days after the expiration of the appeal period or within any additional period mutually agreed upon by the applicant and the Area Planning Commission.
3. Waivers for Discretionary Projects. For projects that require a discretionary entitlement, an applicant shall file a waiver request as part of the master land use application or subdivider’s statement for the project. In such case, the decision maker for the discretionary entitlement shall process the waiver request pursuant to the procedures established for the discretionary entitlement, but may only grant a waiver after making one of the required findings set forth in Subdivision 2.(b) above. The waiver request must be set forth in the application filed with the Department of City Planning, and may not be raised for the first time at the hearing on the entitlement or at any entitlement appeal hearing. The applicant may appeal the waiver determination pursuant to the same procedures that govern the entitlement; except in the case of projects that include a tentative map, the waiver determination is subject to only one level of appeal. On appeal, the decision maker shall consider the waiver request de novo based on the findings set forth in Subdivision 2.(b) above.
If the discretionary entitlement(s) for a project have already been approved prior to the effective date of this ordinance, an applicant may apply for a waiver following the procedures for waivers for by-right projects set forth above.
4. Waivers for a Map Modification. Notwithstanding the Parcel, Tentative or Final Tract Map modification procedures set forth in 17.11, 17.14, 17.53 or 17.59, projects that have an approved and/or recorded Map and where the street standards for which the original dedication and/or improvements were revised after the Map was either approved and/or recorded may apply for a waiver from a street dedication and/or improvement using the Waivers for By-Right Projects process described in Section 12.37 I.2., with the Director acting for the Advisory Agency.
5. Exceptions. Projects located in a Hillside area that seek to obtain a waiver from a required street dedication and/or improvement shall continue to use the procedures described in Sections 12.24 X.21. and X.28. as applicable.
6. Authority of the City Engineer. Notwithstanding any other requirement of this Code, the City Engineer may waive or modify any condition of approval or other obligation related to right-of-way improvement or dedication consistent with the Circulation Element of the City’s General Plan without requiring any discretionary entitlement, including, but not limited to, a modification under Sections 12.37 I.4. and 17.14. Nothing in this section is intended to relieve applicants and the City of compliance with the Subdivision Map Act and state law.
J. City May Share The Cost Of Making Unusual Improvements. Upon proper application to the City Council and upon recommendation of the City Engineer, the City may accept and provide for contribution toward the cost of making any improvement required by the provisions of this section which the City Engineer determines will cost an amount greatly in excess of the cost to other property owners who are required to make improvements under the provisions of this section in the immediate vicinity of the said improvement.
K. City Engineer To Determine Street Alignment. Whenever uncertainty exists as to the proper application of the provisions of this section in the matter of street alignment, the City Engineer shall determine their application in conformity with the spirit and intent of this section. (Added by Ord. No. 125,340, Eff. 9/23/63.)
L. Written Notification To Permit Applicants Required. When the City Engineer determines that the provisions of this section are applicable to any building permit application, the City Engineer shall inform the permit applicant of the City Engineer’s determination, of the specific requirements of this Section which the City Engineer determines to be applicable thereto and of the availability and procedure for appeal of the City Engineer’s determination to the City Council. (Amended by Ord. No. 153,949, Eff. 7/19/80.)