La Jolla DPR Committee approves 8,425-square-foot Muirlands Drive home project

The La Jolla Development Permit Review Committee approved a home project planned for Muirlands Drive but sought more information on a Calumet Avenue project during its Sept. 21 meeting online.

During the committee’s final review of the Goodman residence, a project that would demolish a single-family home and build an 8,425-square-foot, two-story house with a three-car garage at 1028 Muirlands, applicant representative Mark House addressed trustees’ concerns raised during the project’s preliminary presentation Sept. 14.

The DPR Committee had asked the applicant to return with information showing three sections of the property’s yards with the volume of the building and vegetation, a colored landscape plan delineating use of permeable and impermeable materials and an explanation of the distance from the property to neighbors’ houses.

Upon presenting the requested items, House said there would be no grading to the home and that new planting would be done on existing grading with a mix of grass and hardscape materials.

He said a drainage system throughout the yards would collect water “that gets recycled back and forth and put back through filtration basins” placed underground.

DPR trustee Diane Kane voiced concern about the addition of “impervious coverage on a hillside lot. The question is, where does the water go during a rain event? … Does your system allow for rainwater or surface water to sink down into the existing soil, or is it being captured and pumped back to the street [where] it becomes part of the runoff in the street?”

Myles Cooper, civil engineer for the project, said the water collected would go into the landscaping on the property without going into the street.

A motion that findings can be made to support the project passed with no objections.

The findings will proceed to the La Jolla Community Planning Association for possible ratification.

Calumet proposal

After preliminary review of a proposal for work at 5340 Calumet Ave. to include new drainage, a pool remodel, site walls, an entry gate, a trellis, entry landscape improvements and a new fireplace, the DPR asked the applicant to return at a later date with more information.

Applicant representative AJ Remen said the project “was started because there was a natural retreat of the bluff in the southwestern corner” of the seaside property.

Engineer Walter Crampton said the erosion has undermined several walkways at the property’s rear, necessitating stabilization and new drainage.

Walkways at 5340 Calumet Ave. have been undermined by bluff erosion, necessitating renovation, engineer Walter Crampton says.

(Courtesy of AJ Remen and Walter Crampton)

The plans would re-establish the bluff line, Remen said, along with a 5-foot setback, “enabling new drainage patterns.”

The homeowners “took the opportunity to reassess … where the pool is in the courtyard” and add a “new trellis and outdoor features to get away from the wind,” he said.

The driveway width would be reduced, adding more curb space to the street, Remen said.

DPR trustee John Shannon said, “My concern is that the view corridor that we have a couple of properties south is going to erode ... and the water that’s flowing around is going to flow underneath” the house at 5340 Calumet.

“I’d like to know where things are going in the long term,” he said.

Kane said she shared the concern about water movement “and the fact that we really don’t know where it’s going. The cumulative impact is unknown, and it’s potentially quite concerning.”

Trustee Angeles Leira said “a 5-foot setback is not going to save you” from erosion. “It will continue undermining [and] coming down.”

Leira requested items for the next meeting including a graphic identifying permeable and impermeable landscaped areas — both existing and proposed — and a drainage plan showing where the water would go from the roof or downspouts.

The Development Permit Review Committee meets the second and third Tuesdays of each month. The next meeting is at 4 p.m. Oct. 12 online. Learn more at lajollacpa.org. ◆