La Jolla Shores has formed a new committee to examine the Shores zoning codes to determine whether ordinances need to be changed to protect the beach community from large projects — like so-called mc-mansions — altering the neighborhood’s character. Called the La Jolla Shores Planned District Ordinance (PDO), the committee held its first meeting on Wednesday, Sept. 16. Currently, the La Jolla Shores PDO does not specify setbacks or floor-area ratios (FAR). Joe LaCava, president of the La Jolla Community Planning Association (LJCPA), described the ordinance as more qualitative than quantitative, meaning it describes how the community should look but lacks exact formulas.  “It was written in kinder, gentler times when people had fairly modest expectations for living space,” LaCava said. “It was normal to have a 1,200-square-foot house.” LaCava said expectations have changed for homes that have grown increasingly larger. Developers come along and house by house push the standard higher. For example, a neighborhood’s average house may occupy 3,000 square feet, and so a developer justifies building a 3,300-square-foot house, and another developer may then come along and build a 3,600-square-foot house, LaCava explained. Since La Jolla Shores does not have a specified FAR, some houses are built to fill out the lot at .7 or .9 FAR – far larger than the city’s .5 FAR standard, LaCava said. “The open, breezy, sunny neighborhoods are becoming full of very large buildings,” LaCava said. The purpose of the La Jolla Shores PDO is to begin a conversation about whether or not the Shores ordinance serves its purpose. LaCava estimated it could take the committee six months to a year to present recommendations to the city, and it will take the city approximately two years to enact the changes. LaCava cautioned that changes can have unintended consequences. For example, the PDO could require that more minor projects obtain a discretionary permit rather than skip straight to a building permit. The discretionary permit process allows for more public input but it costs $40,000 for the developer, which may then decide to build a larger project to justify the expense of the permit.   Yes to removing the sand at Children’s Pool The LJCPA voted 12-1 on Sept. 3 to support the city’s proposal to remove 3,000 cubic yards of sand from the La Jolla Children’s Pool to the closest beach, South Casa Beach. In order to meet a court order, the city must formulate a plan to return the Children’s Pool to its 1941 configuration, as well as clean the beach of seal feces, by Oct. 6. The city plans to spread out the contaminated sand at the Children’s Pool to use the sun’s ultraviolet rays to clean it, and then dump it at South Casa Beach. The sand removal process will create a sand berm to deter seals from resting on the sand, and the noise of the machinery is also expected to frighten them, according to project manager Samir Mahmalji with the city’s Engineering and Capital Projects Department. The LJCPA supported the sand removal process as a land-use measure and a means to an end – to clean the sand – and not in order to weigh in on whether the beach should be returned to its original use as a children’s pool or continue as a place for seals to rest, according to LJCPA President LaCava.  The city estimates it will take six to eight weeks to gradually move the sand from one beach to the next at a price tag of $500,000. The process will be more extensive than just using a backhoe to move sand. Biologists will have to inspect the sand, and archeologists and security guards will be present. Officials from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration will be onsite to safeguard the seals. Both beaches will be closed during the sand removal. If the city is forced to return the Children’s Pool to its 1941 configuration, the city will have to continue to remove 100 to 200 cubic yards of sand every two years. City Council will discuss the environmental impact report for the sand removal process at the Sept. 22 meeting.