Manhattan Beach’s zoning update would clarify rules for hedges, fences, decks, pools and utility cabinets. The city describes it as clarification without new policy or material changes to established development standards.
What the city is deciding
On October 6, the Council voted 5 to 0 to introduce Ordinance No. 26-0012 “as amended.” Introduction is a first reading, not final adoption. The amendment is not described in the documents; details below follow the published draft.
Where and who it affects
The package covers municipal zoning rules and the Local Coastal Program, the city’s coastal zone rules. The deck provision concerns single family RS lots in the city’s first two Area Districts.
What it could mean for your property
The draft defines a hedge as a continuous or nearly continuous line of shrubs, small trees or other woody plants forming a screen, buffer, boundary or ornamental feature. Small gaps for access or replacement plants would not stop it being a hedge.
The draft also clarifies how fence, wall and hedge height is measured, matching current practice.
For decks, the entire deck area could count toward the supplemental setback requirement, instead of half. That requirement is extra front and corner side open area on those lots.
For pools and hot tubs, setbacks would be measured from the waterline, matching current practice. Related equipment would need five feet from side and rear property lines unless entirely inside an underground vault. The vault itself would need to sit at least three feet from those lines.
Front yard utility cabinets would be allowed under conditions, a change the city links to new Southern California Edison transformer rules. Underground placement must be infeasible, and the City Engineer must determine they cannot go in the public right of way. Cabinets must sit within a utility easement, as close to the front property line as possible, be as small as possible and have a visually compatible finish. They would be allowed only where no existing cabinet can serve the property.
Questions to ask before you buy or build
- Is this lot subject to the supplemental setback requirement?
- Would the planting meet the proposed hedge definition?
- Would pool equipment need an underground vault at the proposed location?
What happens next
A second reading and adoption are still needed; the documents do not give a date. If adopted, the coastal amendments would go to the California Coastal Commission for certification. The documents do not say when those changes would take effect.