RFA Bonus

The RFA Bonus is a twenty percent increase to the maximum Residential Floor Area allowed on a lot, granted in exchange for a specific design discipline. Only one bonus is allowed per property. The owner picks the option, the design has to comply with that option, and the option must be clearly identified on the plans.

In the RA, RE, and RS zones (Baseline Mansionization Ordinance), two options are available: the Proportional Stories Option and the Front Façade Step Back Option. In Hillside Areas (Baseline Hillside Ordinance), additional options exist, including Cumulative Side Yard Setbacks, an 18-Foot Envelope Height, a Multiple Structures Option, and a Minimum Grading Option.

The Proportional Stories Option requires that all stories other than the “Base Floor” (as defined in LAMC 12.03) be no more than seventy-five percent of the Base Floor area. The Front Façade Step Back Option requires at least twenty-five percent of the front-facing building width to step back at least twenty percent of the building depth, rounded to the nearest foot.

Plan checkers will look for the bonus option to be clearly identified on the plans, with dimensions and calculations demonstrating compliance. A bonus claimed without the corresponding design discipline is one of the more common reasons a project is sent back for redesign.

The Proportional Stories Option only applies to lots where the building pad has a slope of less than fifteen percent prior to any grading. The Front Façade Step Back Option only applies to structures within thirty-five feet of the frontage along an improved street. Eligibility for each option is geographically constrained.

On hillside lots, the Minimum Grading Option is available only on lots where at least sixty percent of the lot area consists of slopes of thirty percent or greater. The total grading volume must not exceed the lesser of ten percent of the lot area in cubic yards, or one thousand cubic yards. The discipline rewarded is restraint.

Sources: LAMC Sections 12.07C.5, 12.07.01C.5, 12.07.1C.5 (Baseline Mansionization); LAMC Section 12.21C10(b)(3) (Baseline Hillside); City of Los Angeles Department of Building & Safety, Plan Check Correction Sheets PC/STR/Corr.Lst.106A and PC/STR/Corr.Lst.107A.