Appeal on ‘dip house’ is denied

Coastal Commission declines to overturn approval of Laguna home to be built over a flood plain.The California Coastal Commission sank the opposition to the project known as the “dip house.”

A 9-2 majority of the commission voted at the October meeting that no substantial issue under the California Coastal Act was raised in the appeal by project opponents and therefore there was no basis for overturning the City Council approval of the project.

The approved project, on a Glenneyre Street lot, is a 1,100-square-foot, single-family home with an attached two-vehicle carport under it. Caissons sunk into bedrock will elevate the home over a dip or watercourse.

“We are very upset,” said Annette Stephens, who owns property across Glenneyre Street from the proposed project. “They didn’t even listen to what we had to say and disregarded photographs of a running stream on the property.... The site is an obvious watering hole for animals. I filed the appeal, but there were about 12 of us involved.”

The hearing was held Oct. 13 in San Diego.

“Commissioners look at the act and they look at what the appellants say and determine if a substantial issue has been raised,” commission spokeswoman Sarah Christie said. “The reason the commissioners voted there was no issue under the act was because the appellant didn’t make a legally defensible argument under the act. There may have been other, more valid arguments against the project, but they were not presented.”

Stephens said the appellants had only 10 days to prepare for the hearing.

Councilwoman Toni Iseman, who voted against the project when it was presented to the council in May, attended the commission hearing.

“I think the commission was under the impression that overturning the approval was going against the will of the council,” Iseman said.

Overturning the council approval would have required a majority vote of the commission. Only Commissioners Dave Potter of Monterey and Ben Haddad of San Diego cast votes in favor of the appeal.

The council had voted 3-2 in favor of the project at the May 18 meeting. The project had earlier been denied by the design review board on a 3-2 vote. Iseman and Councilman Steven Dicterow voted no.

Property owner Jeff Garner is the architect for the home, designed for his son on a difficult lot at 1530 Glenneyre St., sunk in the dip near the corner of Calliope Street.

More than 80 percent of the lot will be covered with impermeable material, only about 30 percent of it the house itself.

A long driveway to the back of the property doubles back to wind up at the carport, which is under the house. The driveway provides a turnaround so that drivers will not have to back out onto heavily traveled Glenneyre Street.

The city tried to buy the lot but could not come to terms with Garner. Kinsman voted with Mayor Elizabeth Pearson Schneider and Councilwoman Jane Egly to approve the project after a closed session with City Attorney Philip Kohn.