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Special ZOA Meeting of the OAHA

Sunday, July 27, 2008: 5:30pm
Agoura Bible Fellowhip

All current members of the Old Agoura Homeowners Association are urged to attend this special meeting regarding the City's proposed Zoning Ordinance Amendment. Please read this letter from President Jess Thomas, check out the proposed ZOA if you haven't already, and plan to attend. If you have specific concerns about building, renovating or adding on to your property, bring the information with you (size of lot, current home size and lot coverage, slope, etc) and the City's consultant can try and address those concerns.

Please note, this meeting is for Old Agoura Homeowner Association members only. RSVP/Questions may be addressed to:

PZ@oldagoura.org

A Letter From President Jess Thomas, OAHA

We have arrived at a turning point in Old Agoura.

For some years now, your Board of Directors has been diligently attempting to define what it is about our neighborhood that makes it so specially unique. The descriptive passages in the “ BUILDING IN OLD AGOURA?” section of the web site are a years-old attempt at an analysis. But, every year it seems as if more and more newcomers, and sometimes even local developers, are intent upon ignoring the features of existing Old Agoura. The trend is to build much larger and more ostentatious homes, which cover more of the lot area, and are out of proportion with the existing homes in the immediate neighborhood. This tendency exists throughout the country and has caused the coining of a new word in our language. Google "mansionization" and you will be astounded at the number of organizations created to study and oppose it.

Before we got completely sidetracked, and absorbed by the Heschel School issue, the OAHA had asked our City to do something to assist us in limiting the changes in the nature of the neighborhood. Lately, an effort has finally been initiated in that respect. Joyce Parker was a City planning staff member for years and is now working as a freelance planner. The City has hired her to develop a Zoning Ordinance Amendment, (ZOA), which would limit mansionization in Old Agoura. To date, there have been two public meetings held by the City to examine and explain the draft ordinance. While the main objections to the proposed ordinance have come from developers and realtors, some issues have developed which would unreasonably limit existing homeowners’ remodel and add-on plans. An example is the way the driveway area is counted in the lot coverage total. The first draft of the new ZOA included all of driveway area to be counted as part of the total lot coverage allowed. However, at the City workshops, it was pointed out that this blanket treatment was particularly not fair to folks with steep lots which require a really long driveway to access the buildable house pad. This is the type of issue we will be looking at during the meeting.

The prevalent attitude among speculative builders, who are the majority of those building the huge new homes lately, is that they should not be restrained in any way in maximizing their profit. Our Association has had the goal of preserving the nature and style of the neighborhood for many years. Your Board of Directors feels that the proposed Zoning Ordinance Amendment can be crafted into a document which allows sufficient latitude in design, while imposing adequate restraint against over development.

Please examine the proposed ZOA and the results of the two public meetings on the web site and help us make some decisions at the meeting.