The Lomita City Council adopted new Rooming House regulations at its June 7th, 2010 Council meeting.

This ordinance redefines the term “Rooming House” and only permits “Rooming Houses” in the RVD (Multi-Family) Zone. Rooming Houses are now prohibited in the A-1, Agriculture Single-Family and R-1, Single Family Residential Zones.

A “Rooming House” is defined as:

A residence or dwelling, other than a hotel, wherein the right to occupy a room or any portion of the premises, whether or not exclusive, with or without individual or group cooking facilities, is rented to three or more individuals in the same dwelling under separate oral or written rental agreements or leases, whether or not an owner, agent, or property manager is in the residence. Rooming house includes boarding house and lodging house.

If you have a dwelling unit in the A-1 or R-1 zone and are renting the same dwelling to three or more individuals under separate oral or written rental lease agreements, your dwelling falls under the definition of a “Rooming House” and you must immediately register your rooming house with the Lomita Community Development Department.

An example of a Rooming House would be a home where the property owner rents out three individual bedrooms in a 4 bedroom house under three separate rental agreements. 

An example of a residential rental arrangement that is not a Rooming House would be a three bedroom home that is rented under one rental agreement.  

After June 1, 2011, the following restrictions apply to dwelling units in the A-1 and R-1 Zones:  

• Dwelling units cannot have more than two lease agreements in effect for the same property at the same time.
• Existing Rooming Houses may allow existing leases to expire until July 7, 2011.
• Existing Rooming House operations may enter into new leases between June 1, 2010 and December 1, 2010, provided that the new leases cannot last longer than six months.
• Existing Rooming House operations shall not enter into any new rental leases after December 1, 2010.
• Existing Rooming Houses may not operate in the A-1 and R-1 Zones after June 1, 2011.   

If you want more information or need to register your rooming house, please contact Alicia Heideman, Principal Planner, at 310-325-7110 extension 122 or via email at a.heideman@lomitacity.com.