Development permit reviewers back project to demolish one home and build another in Muirlands area

A home construction project proposed for La Jolla’s Muirlands neighborhood got the approval of the local Development Permit Review Committee during its July 19 meeting. The project is still awaiting a decision from the city of San Diego on whether the property in question has historical significance.

The project calls for a coastal development permit to demolish a one-story, 3,183-square-foot single-family residence with an attached garage and build a new two-story single-family residence with an attached garage and a detached one-car garage with a “maid’s room” above for a total of 8,220 square feet at 6229 La Jolla Mesa Drive.

Project representative Tim Martin said the homeowners intend to make the development “their forever home, so we put a lot of time in to put everything in they will need.”

He said the existing ranch-style house that was built in 1972 would be removed but all the mature trees on the property would remain.

The garage, he said, is being “flipped from the south side of the property to the north side,” but the garage and some of the house would not be visible from the street given a shield of landscaping and a low rock wall.

Martin said the applicants are waiting for the city to complete a review of whether the property is historically significant. “We do not believe there is any [historical] relevance here,” he said.

The La Jolla Development Permit Review Committee meets July 19 on Zoom.

(Courtesy of La Jolla DPR)

DPR trustee Diane Kane and Chairman Brian Will called it “a lovely project,” but trustee Angeles Leira had concerns about approving a project without making sure there are no historical implications.

After the committee voted unanimously to make its preliminary review final (allowing it to cast additional votes on the project), Leira said she was “antsy about this” since historical review hasn’t been completed and she doesn’t know whether the original house has any historical significance.

Will said the DPR’s role is to make a recommendation to the city as to whether the project “fits the community plan and community character.”

“If the city says [the original house is] historic, that’s going to stop the project,” Will said.

Kane, who also volunteers with the La Jolla Historical Society, said the project plans were submitted to the Historical Society in April and “nobody flagged it.”

“So we have looked at it and did not feel there was the potential for historic designation,” Kane said.

A motion to support the project passed 5-1, with Leira opposed. The DPR’s findings will proceed to the La Jolla Community Planning Association for ratification or further review. LJCPA next meets at 6 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 4, online. Learn more at lajollacpa.org. ◆