Hollywood Hills: Not a campground-though it once had been, arguably

Hollywood Hills Back in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s, Hollywood Hills was a very different area.

Then, the area was marketed, for lack of better description, as a campground.

The main Hollywood Hotel was the gathering place, offering food, dining, bathing and various waterfront activities.

The mountain itself was generally undeveloped except for some access paths to get to different camping spots scattered all over the mountain.

For anyone who is familiar with Hollywood Hills, they will know that most of the lots and parcels seem to be divided in width into multiples of either 25 or 40 foot lots.

The depth depended a lot on terrain, access, steepness of slopes, etc.

The 25 foot wide lots were intended as tent sites only.

Someone could buy or rent a 25 foot wide tent site, enjoy the outdoor wildlife and make their way down to the hotel for meals, bathing, food supplies and use of the waterfront.The 40 foot wide lots were intended as a lean-to lot.

This was a small structure that offered a more weatherproof and permanent shelter for the more discreet camper.

This concept was successful for many years.

In time, these 25 and 40 foot lots were sold, usually in small groups or clusters, to individuals and families.

As traveling here from other locations became easier [cars and roads improved], people began to use the mountain more and more.

The desire to improve that lean-to into a fully enclosed structure became more popular.

By the time the Town adopted its first zoning ordinance and land use regulation in 1965, much of the mountain had festered in unregulated growth and development.

Development of the mountain for roads, the clearing of lots for new and expanded structures, installation of driveways, had begun to take its toll and the need for some kind of development oversight became apparent.

When a municipality is considering land use regulations, specifically a zoning ordinance, the idea of establishing different types of development zones is part of the process.

The Town of Webb is a huge area, over 480 square miles, and certainly has no lack for the different types of land, slopes, soils, lakes, rivers and development patterns throughout the town.

There are flat areas, sandy areas, marshy areas, wooded and open areas… all kinds of geological concerns when considering zoning for existing and potential future development.

Hollywood Hills is one huge, very steep rock, with just enough dirt to hold some trees and ground vegetation.

Taking that into consideration, the zoning classification was established as a Residential Seasonal – 2 [RS-2] zoning district, thus requiring a larger lot size [2.7 acres] than the RS-1 or just RS district.

Since the establishment of the RS-2 in 1965, there have been numerous houses built on lots smaller than the required 2.7 acre minimum.

Why is this?

As in most zoning ordinance regulations, existing conditions that may not comply with the new regulation are grandfathered, which are known as lawfully existing, non-conforming conditions.

This makes Hollywood Hills a can of worms for grandfathered conditions.

However, any parcel undeveloped shall be combined with contiguous parcels under the same ownership to make a more compliant parcel.

So if you own four old vacant 40 foot parcels, you only have one potentially buildable lot, not four.

For more information about undeveloped lots, grandfathered or not, contact the Code Office before you assume you can just do things like they did years ago. What were camping areas have turned into residential neighborhoods.