A quiet street straddling Point Loma and Ocean Beach planning areas has become a battleground over a developer’s plans to build two homes on a split lot some neighbors consider to be undersize for the project.
The city Planning Commission is hearing an appeal May 26 of the city Development Services Department’s approval of a Coastal Development Permit to demolish a single-family home at 2257 Froude St. and replace it with two new 1,814-square-foot homes each over a 1,073-square-foot
basement/two-car garage on two legal lots.
The redevelopment project’s location has, quite literally, split the Peninsula community.
One side of Froude Street is in the Peninsula Community Planning Board district while, just 50 feet or so away, homes on the other side of the street are in the Ocean Beach Planning Board district.
Tom and Judy Parry, neighbors near the project site who’ve resided on a block of Froude north of Voltaire Street for years, insist the Froude Street project is the wrong development in the wrong place. They point out the project’s location is right on the line between planning areas, which they claim has unfairly compromised the community’s right to speak out on it.
The Peninsula Community Planning Board (PCPB) voted overwhelmingly against the proposed project in February. But Ocean Beach’s Planning Board was not allowed to rule on because the city considered it to be in PCPB’s province.
“It will be a monstrosity,” said Judy Parry. “All the houses on this block are either Spanish-, Craftsman-style or ’50s small bungalows. There is nothing like this in the neighborhood. It will not be consistent with the rest of the neighborhood.”
Parry said a rendering for the two proposed new homes shows they are all glass, wood and concrete on the exterior, nothing like surrounding residences.
And then there’s the issue of parking, which Parry said is already virtually nonexistent in the area.
“They’re going to put in 24 feet of curb cuts, which means there’s not going to be parking for the whole property,” argued Parry. “Where are people going to park? It’s a parking war around here already. I park on the street and I have to be home before 3 p.m., otherwise I have to park far away and walk home.”
The redevelopment project incorporates some sustainable features. One is a roof-mounted photovoltaic system consisting of solar panels sufficient to generate at least 50-percent of the project’s projected energy consumption.
Architect Scot Frontis could not be reached for comment.
City staff’s recommendation was to deny the appeal. The Froude Street project is not appealable to the City Council, District 2 Councilwoman Lorie Zapf’s office said.