Perhaps ending seven years of contention over the proposed project’s bulk and scale, San Diego City Council voted 6-2 on Oct. 5 to deny an appeal of the environmental document for the Whitney mixed-use project in La Jolla Shores.
Barring any legal challenges, the move clears the way for Bob and Kim Whitney to demolish an existing single-story retail building and cottage at 2202 and 2206 Avenida de la Playa and replace them with a three-story, mixed-use development with retail on the ground floor and condos on the second and third floors.
The project’s environmental impact report had previously been approved by the city Planning Commission.
Councilmembers Sherri Lightner of District 1, which includes La Jolla, and David Alvarez of District 8, opposed the motion brought by Councilmember Scott Sherman and seconded by District 2 Councilmember Lori Zapf. The motion was to support city staff’s recommendation to deny the appeal. Councilmember Marti Emerald was absent.
The Whitney project has been a bone of contention in La Jolla Shores for years. Some Shores residents contend the project as proposed is too massive and violates the Shores Planned District Ordinance governing development. They also insist it is incompatible with the surrounding neighborhood and sets an irrevocable precedent for other developers waiting in the wings.
Arguing for the Whitney project, attorney Robin Madaffer characterized it as a “seven-year odyssey resulting in the environmental impact report before you.”
Madaffer argued that the project, which the City Council rejected in 2011 ordering that an environmental impact report was required, has both addressed and provided mitigation for any environmental impacts.
“In my career practicing land use, I’ve never seen an EIR prepared for a project so small, 8,500 square feet,” Madaffer noted.
In testimony, next-door neighbor Myrna Naegle iterated her claim that a large wall to be built as part of the Whitney project would block ventilation and sunlight into her residence.
Lightner characterized the project EIR as fatally “flawed,” saying a number of issue including traffic safety, visibility, bulk and scale, groundwater, geology and the possibility of flooding were not adequately addressed in the document.
“This project is not in keeping with the bulk and scale of the surrounding neighborhood,” Lightner said, adding, “This project is significantly larger than any other project in the commercial center of La Jolla Shores.”
Lightner added she felt the project would set a bad precedent, noting there is more than one developer waiting to follow the Whitney example.