Larchmont Buzz quoted Jane Usher, a Windsor Square resident who once chaired the city's own Planning Commission, describing the draft this way: "Instead of honoring the detailed preservation plans with objective standards, almost nothing is regulated."
The document is Los Angeles's draft Objective Design Standards for ADUs and infill housing inside Historic Preservation Overlay Zones, or ODS. The city released it on June 24, 2026. If you're evaluating a character home in Hancock Park or Windsor Square right now, with an addition, an ADU, or a second unit somewhere in the back of your mind, the draft could affect what you may be allowed to build if adopted. It isn't finished. It sets different standards for detached ADUs and infill housing.
Different Height Standards for Two Project Types
The draft standard for a detached ADU says its height, measured from grade to the roof ridge, has to stay below the height of the primary residence. The draft standard for infill housing, meaning new construction built on a lot split off from an existing property, allows that new structure to rise a full story taller than the historic house already standing there.
Mary Pickhardt, an architect and Windsor Square resident who worked for years on that neighborhood's original HPOZ, has said the city can absolutely add density through ADUs, but the current draft needs more thought if the goal is preserving the scale and proportion that gives these blocks their identity. Right now the draft treats new backyard construction more strictly than it treats a brand new building on a subdivided lot.
Why This Is Happening At All
None of this is optional for the city. State law now sets rules for the design review of certain housing projects. The Los Angeles Conservancy explains that Los Angeles's existing HPOZ preservation plans, built around language like "should be compatible" rather than hard numbers, don't meet the objective-standards test. The ODS project is the city's answer: turn 35 preservation plans full of judgment calls into a smaller set of numbers that apply everywhere.
Historic districts differ. Hancock Park includes 1920s Period Revival estates set back 50 feet from the curb, a setback G. Allan Hancock insisted on when he laid out the tract himself. Hancock Park Homeowners Association president Cindy Chvatal-Keane has pointed to a separate wrinkle: AB 1061, a state bill passed in October 2025 and effective January 1, 2026, already sets specific standards for splitting contributing lots inside HPOZs, and the current ODS draft doesn't yet account for it. She did not argue that the city should ignore state housing law. As Larchmont Buzz reported, she said, "we can't base how we go forward based on one or two bills" when several are moving at once, each with its own definitions of what a historic lot can become.
The Calendar So Far
The timeline matters because it tells you how much of this is still genuinely unsettled heading into fall.
- March to April 2026 — City planning staff previewed the ODS concept to HPOZ boards and ran an online survey, with feedback due April 1 and a first virtual workshop on April 13.
- June 24, 2026 — The Office of Historic Resources released the actual draft standards for ADUs and infill housing, along with a fact sheet neighborhood leaders immediately flagged as misleading.
- June 30, 2026 — A second virtual workshop walked residents through the draft for the first time.
- July 21, extended to July 28, 2026 — The public comment deadline was extended by a week to allow more input, and the window closed July 28.
- July 28, 2026 — The Greater Wilshire Neighborhood Council's Land Use Committee, covering Hancock Park, Windsor Square, Windsor Village, Wilshire Park, and Country Club Park, passed a detailed motion opposing the draft and asking the city to also fight a separate state bill, SB 1116, that would let single-family lots split into as many as 10 parcels as small as 800 square feet with ministerial approval.
- Fall 2026 — The city has said the revised draft moves to the Planning Commission and City Council next, with the broader project required to wrap by December 2026 under the terms of the federal grant funding it.
Residents in those five neighborhoods have sent the city more than 500 letters of opposition in the past month alone. That response comes as the city prepares a revised draft for the next stage of review.
A Proposed Project in Another HPOZ
A project already proposed in the Angelino Heights HPOZ, another of the city's 35 historic districts, would use the new state lot-splitting laws to carve one property into 10 new lots holding 10 three-story townhomes, plus a remainder lot with the original historic house still on it. Whatever standards eventually apply to Hancock Park and Windsor Square will apply to projects shaped exactly like that one.
The city has been clear about one thing: the existing 35 preservation plans won't be thrown out. Where state law doesn't force jurisdictions into objective-standards-only review, the ODS will work alongside the current preservation plan guidelines, not replace them. The City Planning ODS FAQ says the HPOZ Board still decides most rehabilitation projects. What's actually changing is narrower and more specific: how new construction and ADUs on eligible lots get approved, and how much room a planner has to say no.
What This Means If You're Buying, Selling, or Sitting on Extra Lot Depth
If you're touring a Hancock Park or Windsor Square property this year with development potential in mind, whether that's an ADU for a parent or a rental, or a future lot split, don't treat any number you hear about what's "allowed" as fixed. The standards that will govern that math are still being drafted and are opposed, in their current form, by the homeowners association and by residents who helped write the original preservation plans. A number that's true in August could be revised by the time the City Planning Commission takes it up this fall.
If you're the one selling a character home with unused lot depth or ADU potential, this cuts differently. Buyers doing real diligence right now are going to ask what the property's contributing or non-contributing status is, what's already been approved on it, and what the pending ODS could change. Having that history assembled before you list, rather than reconstructing it mid-escrow, keeps a motivated buyer from getting spooked by a regulatory story that's genuinely still in motion. It also lets you frame the property's development potential honestly instead of promising a number nobody can guarantee yet.
Either way, the HPOZ boundaries themselves aren't moving. What's moving is the fine print underneath them, and the fine print is where deals get delayed or renegotiated.
Frequently Asked Questions
Should I wait to buy or sell until the rules are finalized? That depends entirely on what you're trying to do with the property. If your plans don't involve new construction, a lot split, or an ADU, the current uncertainty has little bearing on your timeline. If they do, it's worth going into escrow with clear eyes about which parts of your plan rely on standards that are still being negotiated between the city and the neighborhood councils.
If you're looking at a Hancock Park or Windsor Square home with real renovation or ADU ambitions, the pending rules are exactly the kind of detail I walk clients through before they write an offer, alongside the property's actual permit history and contributing status. If you're preparing to sell a character home and want to talk through how to position its development potential honestly, I'd welcome the conversation. Ali Jack works Hancock Park and the surrounding historic districts every day. Let's Connect.
This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.
