GOOGLE ANSWERS.
HOLLYWOOD HILLS-
NEIGHBORS ?MANSIONISATION? OF HIS HOUSE WILL OBSCURE MY GLORIOUS PANORAMIC VIEWS.
 ATTRACTION AND  VALUE  OF MY HOME DEVISTATED..
I am a home owner living in the Hollywood Hills. I am scrambling to
address an unfamiliar  situation  that, should it come to pass will
have a horrible and totally preventable negative  impact my property
and the surrounding area. I hope I may steal a moment of your time,
for which in advance, much thanks!
There is to be a hearing at the L A City Planning Dept. on April 1st 
just 3 days away regarding the demolition and construction of my
immediate neighbor?s house on Zorada.
My house was built on a bluff with unimpeded views of city and
canyons. It's one of three stacked or terraced lots, mine is  in the
middle. The house below me, is a  2593 sq ft  2 story home which the
owners plan  to demolish  and erect a new  huge 2 story mansion style
building three times the size of the present property and in a
grandiose  architectural style entirely alien to the neighborhood.
Apparently local codes allow for such a property to be built  to a
maximum height of 36 feet.(Beverly Hills has a max height in the hills
of 14 feet!) The plans for this monster indicate that my neighbor
intends to  build to the max all 36 feet for a two story home. This
will make the mansion 12 to15 feet higher than the present house
effectively obscuring the wonderful views of the city and the canyons
that are the principal appeal of my property and no doubt wiping out
most of my homes  equity in the process. (I think of it as my
retirement fund).
The three  terraced lots, all flat pads were excavated from the
hillside. Each property has equal   exposure to the magnificent 
panorama of the canyons, the city and  in the distance the Pacific
Ocean. It is spectacular.  The other two houses on the bluff, one
above and the one below are not seen  from my property and  the
nearest house one can see is hundreds of yards away across the canyon
giving my property a wonderful sense of privacy isolation and
tranquility and only 1 mile from Sunset Boulevard!
My neighbors plan to erect 36' high mansion   smack in front of my
house only 5 feet from the edge of the pool deck,  just feet from the
big open plan kitchen/ living room  which  is my houses'  heart and
soul, will kill my home. Instead of the views to gaze upon  I shall
have a stucco wall and a monstrous roof to contemplate, the proposed 
roof, according to the submitted plans will be   ornamented
with....and this is on the plan, great  ersatz turrets and cupolas
testaments to breathtaking selfishness. Monuments to a  moral compass
smashed,  nails in the heart of the neighborhoods property values!
How anyone could undertake such  such a gross  and shameless  assault
on their immediate  neighbor beats me. I have never had anything but
friendly encounters  with these neighbors on the few  occasions when 
we  have run into each other. This entire horrendous disregard for
ones neighbor, the cavalier disregard for me and my home  is  for
what, a few feet of ceiling height? Must I  be diminished  and roll
over so they can grab  MORE.
Some months ago the  lady from the house below visited me with a
petition she was circulating to gather signatures from  the neighbors.
She wanted us to sign the document stating that we had no objections
to their proposed building plans. Apparently the planning dept.
required  this. She told me that the growing family didn't have enough
room and needed to add a few hundred sq feet.
I asked her immediately if the plans called for any addition to the
HEIGHT of their house, my principal concern because  their house is
directly  in front of mine albeit below. She assured me that the
addition was to the ground floor only  and there would be no changes
to the height of the home. With that assurance  I happily signed her
petition.
I have learned since that this petition is still in play today and
possibly  misleading  the planners into believing that the neighbors 
have no objections to the demolition of the home and the
mansionisation of the property. In fact the neighborhood is fiercely
opposed to the project which  involves massive retaining walls around
the perimeter of the  property quite out of keeping with  the 
unostentatious architecture of the neighborhood. The concerned
neighbors will be attending  the hearing on April 1st and they will be
vocal
I would be really most grateful to hear any suggestions  that may help
me to turn the situation around and save my home, the neighborhood and
not forgetting my retirement. Do this and we will be calling you
Superman!
Yours sincerely,
Warwick Sims