Following the continuance issued at its Dec. 16 meeting, on Jan. 20 the city’s Planning Commission voted 3-2 in favor of upholding an appeal to oppose granting a height variance to increase the height of the proposed Bishop’s School library and learning center by slightly more than two feet. The commission, however, was missing two commissioners and four votes are required for affirmative commission votes. The issue will be continued until the Feb. 10 meeting, and commission Chairman Eric Naslund appealed to the project’s architects to do everything they could to pare the building’s height down to the requisite 30 feet. Speaking at the meeting, La Jolla Community Planning Association (LJCPA) President Joe LaCava asked the commissioners to uphold the appeal, stating that “the threshold for a height variance is reasonable use, and they didn’t make the case for reasonable use.” Project architect Michael Wilkes urged the commission to consider the work he and his colleagues have done to cooperate with the LJCPA, saying that nothing more could be done to lower the height of the building. “This building has been squished as much as it can be squished,” he said.








