Council Reshapes Controversial Hedge Law

By Menaka Fernando
Special to The Outlook

May 12 -- The City Council on Tuesday attempted to trim some of the edges off a controversial 60-year-old ordinance that limits hedge, wall and fence heights by proposing compromises between neighbors who want the City out of their shrubbery and those concerned illegally tall hedges are unsightly and pose safety hazards.

After decades without being enforced, the ordinance was thrust into the spotlight last year when the City began citing violations for side and rear hedges taller than the permitted eight feet and for front hedges taller than 42 inches.

Some citations fined residents up to $25,000 per day. The City later apologized for what they called a “heavy-handed approach.”

Though the council left many of the details to be determined, it unanimously passed three motions to help direct the language of a new ordinance that will likely face a vote in July, said Mayor Pam O’Connor.

The council voted to allow all existing hedges -- front, side and rear -- under a “grandfather clause,” but gave adjacent neighbors time to file complaints.

Complaining neighbors would have to prove the tall hedges, fences or walls have an “extreme” effect on the quality of their lives, said Councilmember Ken Genser, who proposed the motion.

The motion also limits new side and rear hedges to a set standard (likely between ten and 16 feet) unless the residence is adjacent to an alley, in which case hedges could be grown without limit.

The council passed a second motion which allows new front hedges, as well as those currently meeting the 42-inch limit, to be subjected to certain height standards that will be set at a later date.

The council also made it easier for homeowners to request taller heights by taking into account such factors as traffic-congestion on their streets.

A third motion focused on the definitions of the terms in question: fences, walls and hedges. While the council accepted the definitions of a wall and fence provided by staff, it directed staff to refine the definition of the word hedge.

An amendment by Council member Bobby Shriver to keep the processing costs at $29.95 for residents involved in a complaint failed by a 4 to 2 vote. A member of the Kennedy family, Shriver entered the local political arena after his North of Montana home was cited for illegal hedges.

Neighbors from both sides brought their emotional testimonies to the council and demanded that they put an end to an issue that is making Santa Monica “the laughing stock” of neighboring cities.

Many of Santa Monica’s wealthier residents also spoke out on the issue, including screenwriter and novelist David Mamet who wrote about the hedge drama in the Los Angeles Times Op-Ed section.

Mamet’s allegation that the City began citing residents solely for financial gain was refuted by several council members, including Shriver.

Of the more than 20 residents who spoke during the public hearing, three advocated for hedge, wall and fence limits, while the rest strongly believed that the City had no right to be involved in their landscaping.

Rachel Rome, a Santa Monica resident who attended a hedge workshop coordinated by the City, said the majority of the residents to whom she’s spoken believe that “we should be allowed our freedom.”

A staff report presented at the meeting, Rome said, did not reflect the workshop she had attended. The report recommended, among other things, that side and rear hedge heights be increased to 12 feet, while keeping front hedge limits at 42 inches.

Residents from both sides presented emotional arguments.

Resident Candy Arnold said her little sister was hit and killed by a car while playing on a sidewalk in 1966 because the fence was too high for oncoming traffic to see her.

But, Mayor Pro Tem Herb Katz noted that the current law would make it illegal to have a wall, fence or hedge for five feet on both sides of a driveway. Arnold said such a law could have helped prevent her sister’s death.

Another resident, Shannon, who wished only to be referred to by her first name due to safety concerns, said having tall hedges gives her and her three-year-old daughter privacy in the front yard.

She said there are 13 registered sex offenders living within a one mile radius of her home. After she was cited for her seven-foot hedges last year, Shannon said she cut them down.

But now, “summer is coming and our hedges are finally growing back,” she said. “This summer, I truly wish that I’ll be able to play on my own lawn, with my child, with some degree of privacy.”.

Council member Kevin McKeown said he is committed to putting an end to the shrub issue.

“I was born in 1948, and I want to make sure this ordinance dies before I do,” he said.