Hill Section Homes for Sale, Manhattan Beach

The Hill Section occupies the rising ground at the south end of Manhattan Beach. The City’s General Plan describes it as bounded by Manhattan Beach Boulevard, Sepulveda Boulevard, Boundary Place and Valley Drive/Ardmore Avenue.

It holds the largest residential lots in the city. The General Plan says so directly: the Hill Section “includes some of the largest residential lots in Manhattan Beach, with many homesites afforded ocean and Downtown Los Angeles vistas and beyond.” It adds that the large lots, together with the practice of combining lots, “provide opportunities to build homes of 5,000 square feet or larger.”

One clarification before anything else: Hermosa Beach also has a Hill Section. Always qualify which city you mean.

How much larger are Hill Section lots?

Manhattan Beach pairs a base zone with an Area District, and the Hill Section is Area District I. That is where the difference lives. For single-family property:

• Minimum lot area 7,500 square feet, against 4,600 in the Tree Section and 2,700 in the Sand Section
• Minimum lot width 50 feet, against 40 and 30
• Maximum lot area 15,000 square feet
• Maximum height 26 feet and two stories
• Buildable floor area 240 plus 0.65 times the lot area above 4,800 square feet

A Hill Section minimum lot is roughly 63 percent larger than a Tree Section minimum and nearly triple a Sand Section minimum.

But note the inversion. The Sand Section, with the smallest lots in the city, has a taller limit at 30 feet and three stories, and a more permissive floor-area factor. The Hill Section has the biggest lots and the lower building envelope. Larger footprint, lower profile.

A small part of the Hill Section falls in Area District III rather than I, so confirm the district for a specific parcel rather than assuming.

How is height measured on a sloping lot?

This is the rule that matters most here, and it is easy to miss.

Height is measured from the average elevation of existing grade at all four corners of the lot. On top of that, no portion of a building may exceed the maximum allowable height by more than 20 percent, measured from existing or finished grade, whichever is lower. A topographic survey by a licensed surveyor or civil engineer may be required.

On a sloping parcel that averaging method can produce a very different buildable envelope than a flat reading of “26 feet” suggests, in either direction. It is worth modelling before you commit to a design.

The procedure itself is locked behind a citywide vote, as are the lot and height standards. Any amendment raising height or floor area, or reducing setbacks or lot minimums, has to go to the ballot.

Are views protected?

No, and this is worth being direct about, because it is commonly assumed otherwise.

Manhattan Beach has no view protection ordinance. There is no view preservation chapter, no view restoration process and no view easement mechanism in the municipal code. There is also no hillside overlay district and no standalone grading or slope chapter, with grading running through the adopted California Building Code.

What does exist is a stated policy rationale. General Plan Policy LU-1.1 limits height to two stories where the limit is 26 feet in order to protect privacy, reduce shading, “protect vistas of the ocean,” and preserve the low-profile character of the city. So views are a reason for the height limits rather than a protected right.

The practical translation: a view you can see today is protected only to the extent that the height limits on neighboring parcels happen to preserve it. That is a real consideration on a hillside, and it is answerable by looking at what the neighboring lots could still build.

What else applies here that does not apply at the beach?

Two things.

The tree protection ordinance applies. Area Districts I and II are covered, so a tree with a trunk 12 inches or more in diameter, sitting at least partly in the required front yard or corner streetside yard, needs a permit to remove. Rear and interior side yard trees are not covered. The Sand Section is excluded from the ordinance entirely.

An additional front setback applies. Area District I and II properties carry a supplementary front and corner-side setback calculated as a percentage of lot area, with ground-level height caps within the front portion of the buildable depth. The Bulk and Volume Ordinance also applies to new construction and additions in Districts 1 and 2 outside the beach area.

Together those shape how a large Hill Section lot can actually be built out, which is why lot size alone does not tell you what is possible.

Which schools serve the Hill Section?

Manhattan Beach Unified School District serves the whole city, and it publishes per-address elementary attendance boundaries, unlike neighboring Redondo Beach Unified. Assignment can be confirmed from a published map.

Elementary schools are Grand View (455 24th Street), Meadows (1200 Meadows Avenue), Pacific (1200 Pacific Avenue), Pennekamp (110 South Rowell) and Robinson (80 Morningside Drive). Mira Costa High School is at 1401 Artesia Boulevard. Confirm assignment for a specific address with the district.

Working with a Hill Section agent

The Hill Section is the part of Manhattan Beach where what you can build diverges most from what the lot size suggests. Slope, the four-corner height averaging, the supplementary setback and the absence of any view protection all shape the outcome. If you are buying or selling here, we are glad to walk a specific address with you, and our Manhattan Beach overview compares the sections.

Continue exploring Manhattan Beach

• Sand Section – the coastal strip and the walk streets
• Tree Section – where the tree ordinance began
• Manhattan Village – the only gated community in the three beach cities
• Manhattan Heights and Liberty Village – the Eastside north of the boulevard
• Mira Costa area – the Eastside south of the boulevard
• El Porto – the northern end, with the most permissive building rules
• Downtown Manhattan Beach – the mixed commercial and residential core
• The Strand – the beachfront frontage and its permit threshold
• American Martyrs – a coastal pocket
• Gas Lamp Section – carries a City design overlay
• Poets Section – named in the General Plan
• Roth Tract and Bird Section – between Herrin and Peck
• Manhattan Beach overview – how the sections compare