New home development one block from Kellogg Park is approved by La Jolla Community Planning Association

In its second complete local review cycle, a project to build a house a block from Kellogg Park got the La Jolla Community Planning Association’s approval during its March 4 meeting online.

Plans are to demolish a single-family dwelling and build a 4,430-square-foot, two-story single-family home at 8405 Paseo del Ocaso. The development was voted down by the La Jolla Shores Permit Review Committee in September and by LJCPA in October. However, it returned to the PRC in January and was approved, then went back to LJCPA this month.

Haley Duke of Island Architects in La Jolla, which is designing the property, said revisions were made after the previous reviews, including decreasing the size and increasing the setbacks.

“We reduced the square footage by a couple of hundred square feet, so it’s down to a 0.74 [floor area ratio], and there are about 20 percent of houses in the area that are larger than that,” Duke said.

She said other changes included increasing setbacks in key areas and the step-back from the first to second story.

Residents have raised concerns about street trees the city of San Diego is requiring as part of the construction and their effect on public views and drainage.

“The trees are part of the city’s requirement … and beyond our control,” Duke said. The applicant is open to supporting a challenge to that, she said, but the challenge would need to come from someone other than the applicant.

La Jolla Shores resident Peggy Davis said the planned landscaping is not appropriate for the site. “The drainage comes down that street to the ocean during our rains, so we often have problems with edges of the street, so the grading of the lot and how it will affect drainage of that area should be looked at.”

La Jolla architect Phil Merten, representing a neighbor who is against the proposal, argued that the project does not conform with others in the vicinity, specifically in terms of setbacks.

In the end, the LJCPA board voted 11-5 that findings can be made to support the project.

Other LJCPA news

Pavilion on pause: Steve Hadley, representing the office of City Councilman Joe LaCava, whose district includes La Jolla, said the La Jolla Cove Pavilion project to build a new restroom facility at Scripps Park has been delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I received an email ... from public engineering that it is now delayed to a fall completion,” Hadley said. “The crews didn’t want to work during those first few months, then you have supply chains and other things that get disrupted … due to COVID and not being able to get parts on time and deliveries.”

He added that work that would normally be done sequentially would be done concurrently and that a new construction timeline would be produced in coming weeks.

Beach fire issue: LJCPA agreed to support and sign onto a letter asking the city to ban charcoal and wood fires and allow only propane fires on certain local beaches that do not have fire rings. Area residents and community planning groups have expressed concern about smoke wafting into neighboring homes and embers being left in the sand, where they can remain hot for hours.

“We support a ban on wood- and charcoal-fueled beach fires proposed by the Barber Tract Neighborhood Association (BTNA),” the letter states. “As an alternative, we support the use of portable propane grills and other propane-fueled devices that do not contribute to air, water and sand pollution or cause health and safety hazards associated with smoke and flying embers. This modification of allowable beach uses enables visitors to enjoy barbecuing and the ambiance of fire in a safe manner at our justly famed beaches.”

A similar letter was signed by the La Jolla Parks & Beaches board and supported by the La Jolla Shores Association.

A motion for LJCPA to send the letter to the mayor’s office and other applicable city departments passed 13-3, with trustees Dan Courtney, Matt Mangano and Kathleen Neil opposed.

“Wood fires are great; we have all enjoyed a good time at the beach around a fire,” Courtney said. “What’s next? Are we going to have restrictions on fires within your own property? At what point do we stop with the regulations on what we can and can’t do?”

La Jolla Community Planning Association members, including some newly elected trustees, listen to election results during the group’s March 4 meeting.

(Courtesy)

Election results: In a by-mail election by association members, 60 ballots were cast to choose six LJCPA trustees. The winners, announced at the beginning of last week’s meeting, are incumbents Diane Kane (the current president) and John Shannon, along with Zuzana Hostomska, Glen Rasmussen, Jodi Rudick and Brian Will.

They will be sworn in at the next meeting, which begins at 6 p.m. Thursday, April 1, online. Learn more at lajollacpa.org. ◆