La Jolla Shores permitters approve Calle del Oro development and ask Via Siena project to return

Demonstrating that development never stops in La Jolla, the La Jolla Permit Review Committee approved a project to remodel and add to a 5,920-square-foot house at 2521 Calle del Oro.

The committee, meeting April 20 via the online platform Zoom, reviewed two projects planned for La Jolla Shores. The first — the Calle del Oro house, which called for a site development permit — was approved 3-2-1 during its second presentation to the panel.

Architect Aaron Borja, representing the applicants, said the footprint of the property would not change but the homeowners are adding a second level on top.

Borja said his team surveyed the 13 houses within 300 feet and that the proposed development would be one of the largest.

“We are going to be proposed at 8,464 net square feet, but there are a couple houses that are similar and one is larger,” he said.

When the project was previously heard, “one of the largest critiques” was regarding the lack of articulation of the frontage of the property, located above the beaches on a hillside, Borja said.

Addressing how it was changed, he said, “There is a central entry area that is offset, there is glazing [so] you can see through the building, and there is depth of that undulation in the center of the building. The mass is broken up on the sides and the center.”

He said there also would be overhangs to “provide depth in the facade” and architectural features for “character.”

He also presented two signed letters of support from neighbors who have reviewed the plans.

As part of the board deliberations, PRC trustee Janie Emerson expressed concern about the use of glass on the west side of the property that could reflect down into The Shores community below. Sharing a personal experience, she said she had “a hole burned into some furniture” from the sun reflecting off poorly placed glass in a different development.

However, Borja said the glass to be used will have a tint that reduces glare, and the design features “considerable overhangs” that limit direct sunlight hitting the windows.

Via Siena

After heavy discussion and deliberation, the committee did not vote on a remodel project for a house on Via Siena and asked the applicant to return at a future meeting.

The project calls for a coastal development permit and SDP for an addition and remodel for a single-family home at 2365 Via Siena for a total of 5,881 square feet.

Committee members and a few neighbors had concerns with the proposed street-facing garages and the layout and height of the house.

The applicant was asked to return with a landscape plan for the property, a streetscape of surrounding houses to show how the proposed development would look in context, a slate of finishing materials for the exterior, suggestions for camouflaging the garage and elevation drawings showing the existing roofline. The applicant also was asked to consult with neighbors and possibly post poles to indicate height and view impacts.

The PRC’s next meeting will be held via Zoom at 4 p.m. Monday, May 18. To learn more, go to lajollacpa.org and look under “2020 agendas.” ◆