Despite lingering concerns about the roof deck and decks planned for the second floor next to two bedrooms and on the ground floor, the La Jolla Community Planning Association voted to a Bird Rock home project Oct. 5.
The plan calls for a coastal development permit to demolish a two-story single-family residence and build a new two-story single-family house with an attached garage, a basement and decks along with an attached accessory dwelling unit at 5646 Chelsea Ave.
During previous hearings, trustees of the La Jolla Development Permit Review Committee and of the public said they had a hard time visualizing the home and landscaping based on what was presented. However, the DPR endorsed the project 4-3 in June.
It went before LJA on Aug. 3, when the board decided to send it back to the DPR for additional review. The DPR Committee ed the project again Aug. 8.
It was on the LJA consent agenda on Sept. 7 but was removed for a full hearing later. Items on the consent agenda typically are approved all at once without discussion, but any project can be removed from it for full review at a future meeting.
During LJA’s Oct. 5 meeting, architect Sam Koob provided a brief overview of the project before fielding questions from people in attendance.
DPR trustee Mike Costello echoed previous concerns and said “more than one neighbor is opposed to this project. … I know one of the things they are opposed to is the intrusion into their yards because of the balconies and roof decks.”
Koob countered with the question, “Is it illegal or against code to have a roof deck">
Though roof decks are allowed, Costello argued that it would build “good neighborly relations” to remove the decks from the plans.
“That’s not going to happen,” Koob replied.
During past meetings, Costello said “there have been many houses built in La Jolla with decks that are used once and probably never used again. Decks are, in my opinion, a waste of money, a source of drainage problems. … I wonder what is the sense in [building the roof deck] if it is going to be used once.”
DPR chairman and LJA trustee Brian Will said the DPR Committee heard the project several times and said “it is quite common for our committee to ask applicants to pull roof decks back from the sides of buildings or to line up so they are looking onto someone’s roof instead of their yard to protect neighbor privacy. What is different about this project is … that this house is bordered on three sides by a public street. There is only one interior property line.”
The neighboring property is for sale, and should it be redeveloped, “I don’t know that there will be any private yards … affected by this roof deck” because the proposed development would only overlook front yards of surrounding properties rather than backyards, Will said.
“That notion of privacy is different for a front yard than a backyard,” he said.
A motion to the development ed, with trustees Dan Courtney and Larry Davidson opposing without comment. ◆
