Redondo Beach sets new hedge ordinance

by Garth Meyer

Define a “hedge.” That was one question before the Redondo Beach city council Tuesday night as they created a new ordinance to focus and simplify the city’s response to home hedge violations.

After a series of anonymous complaints late last year led to letters from the city to residents threatening penalties, homeowners converged on city hall and the council asked the city attorney’s office to review the rules.

City staff found that municipal code had a definition for a “tree” but not a “hedge.”

Penalty levels differed too, depending on the nature of the alleged breach; was it for height-only, or that the hedge was a public nuisance, such as a fire hazard or an impediment to a sidewalk?

Similarly, sightlines for drivers and emergency responders are a main reason the city has hedge rules.

City Attorney Joy Ford’s staff in recent weeks reviewed what other municipalities do – coinciding with a proposal from Redondo Beach City Councilmen Zein Obagi, Jr., and Scott Behrendt for a new local ordinance. 

Ford’s office presented recommendations July 21, beginning with; keep the front yard hedge-height limit at 42 inches; and six feet on the sides and back of a property.

City Manager Mike Witzansky added that the new Redondo ordinance should have objective standards, so the police department’s code officers could enforce the rules without first needing a resident complaint on file.

“We’re setting the framework for how we want to see these hedges maintained,” Witzansky said. 

Some would remain a case-by-case basis, he explained, depending on roof heights and proximity to other buildings, etc. 

“Some 8-foot hedges are probably fine. Others may be problematic,” Witzansky said.

In public comment to the council, a woman suggested code enforcement officers should do more.

“If something is in plain sight, then it needs to be addressed,” she said. “Otherwise, it’s presumed that it’s an acceptable status, and that message is conveyed to the public.”

Councilman Behrendt proposed keeping the height limits the same, as did Ford, and to require that any complaints be registered by an adjacent or nearby resident. 

“I think we’ll be good with this bonafide complaint (format). I think it’ll solve it,” Behrendt said.

The complaints that led to all of this were not from close by.

Behrendt’s motion also stated that the city has the power to enforce hedge limits, with or without a neighbor’s complaint. Hedges must also be kept “neat and orderly.”

The city council approved the ordinance 5-0.

Concluding the discussion, Witzansky addressed the criticism of code enforcement.

“One of the things we’re trying to cure with this update is the definition of a hedge,” he said. “We may not be taking action on certain properties because we’re viewing it in our current definition as a tree, not a hedge. That will likely be more clear with this ordinance.”

“There may be very good reason, under our current definitions, or lack thereof, why we’re not able to take the action that (residents) hope we take.” ER