A high-profile protest by Peninsulans over a condo development under construction at the corner of Emerson and Evergreen streets is gradually morphing into a referendum on needed reform on city planning procedures to guarantee observance of the 30-foot coastal height limit.
Following a community protest on the site of the development, as well as an impromptu town hall-style meeting attended by 200-plus residents at UPSES Social Hall in June, work on the project was temporarily halted.
At issue is Emerson Street Duplexes at 3144 Emerson St., a project involving construction of two, three-story duplexes with garages beneath a total of four dwelling units. Zoning on the property allows up to 19 dwelling units on a single, or consolidated lot.
Nearby neighbors, however, are convinced the project exceeds the coastal 30-foot height limit and went into a full-court press to block it.
The mayor’s office has committed to being present at the Peninsula Community Planning Board’s next meeting to take community questions on the Emerson Project 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 15 at Point Loma branch library, 3701 Voltaire St.
Point Loma planners and residents thought they were making real progress when proposed amendments to the Residential-Multiple Dwelling Unit (RM) Base Zone Height Limit for Properties within the Coastal Height Limit Overlay Zone was scheduled for a Sept. 8 city Planning Commission hearing.
But an abrupt postponement of that hearing until Sept. 22, coupled with fears that scaffolding going up on the alleged four-story Emerson duplexes was “preparation for the project to go forward,” has left outcome of the development — and the planning issues surrounding it — in doubt.
“The way to solve a problem is to talk about it,” said Jon Linney, chair of Peninsula Community Planning Board (PCPB). “The Peninsula has a problem, a crisis actually, with out-of-control building and with violations of the 30-foot height limit the community has understood to be in place since 1972.”
“The City’s handling of the Planning Commission meeting and the last-minute cancellation have been less than responsible,” concurred Linney’s PCPB colleague and retired journalist Don Sevrens, speaking on his own behalf. “They are asking us to believe that they didn’t understand the 72-hour notice requirement of the state Brown Act?  That strains credulity.”
Linney called for renewed community discussion by the Roseville neighborhood of the controversial condo project.
“What we have known and loved is disappearing overnight without any public hearing, without any elected policy-maker or Planning Department official lifting a finger to ask what is best for the community,” Linney said. “We need a public dialogue about public spaces in Roseville, encouraging a walkable, bikable residential area. Can we create a municipal parking lot to help address the shortage? Should there be incentives to encourage land aggregation so that builders can be more creative than just shoe-horning multifamily structures onto 50-foot lots?”
Linney suggested that, in the future, “all residences in Roseville must be required to go through public hearings.”
Previously, Council District 2 representative Lorie Zapf supported the coastal height limit and protecting coastal views.
“Further review of the municipal code has determined that this (Emerson) project does not conform to the City’s development regulations,” Zapf said. “I believe this project is contrary to the intent and integrity of Proposition D (coastal 30-foot height limit passed in 1972). It allows the manipulation of grade on a lot known to be relatively flat, to achieve greater overall height. That is in question.”
“Removal of the fourth floor will be a major victory for the community, as will new rules when adopted to make the height limit 30 feet period,” said Linney. “The city has committed to making those revisions as quickly as possible.”