Legalizing a non-conforming unit in Hermosa Beach

The Ardmore line

Roughly forty-three percent of Hermosa Beach sits in the coastal zone, running from the beach inland to Ardmore Avenue. The city has had a certified Land Use Plan since 1982 but no certified Implementation Plan — and so no certified Local Coastal Program. West of Ardmore, the Coastal Commission's South Coast District issues the coastal permit, not the city. State law requires a decision within sixty days and no public hearing, but it is a second agency and a longer timeline, and we quote it that way. East of Ardmore, the city permits normally.

Already in the code

HBMC § 17.21.090 — titled Nonconforming Zoning Code Conditions, Building Code Violations, and Unpermitted Structures — codifies the state protection directly into Hermosa's own ordinance.

Rent control

Hermosa Beach has no local rent stabilization ordinance. Rent increases are governed by the statewide Tenant Protection Act: five percent plus regional CPI to a maximum of ten percent, with units exempt for fifteen years from the date their certificate of occupancy is issued.

What the city can and cannot do

Hermosa Beach cannot deny a permit for a pre-2020 unit because it violates building standards or the local ADU ordinance. It can deny only if it finds that correcting the violation is necessary to meet the substandard-building threshold in Health & Safety Code § 17920.3.

That is a far narrower test than full compliance with current code. A unit can fall short of today's standards in a dozen ways and still be permitted, so long as none of them makes the building substandard.