In June, Bird Rock Community Council got reports on its Maintenance Assessment District (MAD) and about a now-independent community group’s efforts to curb neighborhood mansion-ization.
Board member Barbara Dunbar noted the Midway Bluff Stabilization Project is “complete except for establishing landscaping.” She said orange netting around the project will remain until new plantings have properly grown in. “It looks pretty good and, hopefully, people will behave themselves and not trash it up,” she said.
Dunbar pointed out it is not allowed to “piggyback” signage within roundabouts. “The city’s asked us to keep people from posting signs on top of street signs, which block people’s views making them a safety hazard and a legal issue,” she said.
Dunbar urged residents to report any and all sprinkler damage from vehicular drive-overs to the group email at [email protected]. “Note the location and time of day,” she added.
Jim Ragsdale gave an update on an anti-mansionization group begun by Bird Rock resident Sharon Wampler. Wampler’s group had been formed under the auspices of the La Jolla Community Planning Association. But the group decided to disband and reform as independents partly to have greater freedom to discuss issues offline.
“The group is now called Citizens For Responsible Coastal Development,” said Ragsdale, adding “second-stories will be allowed” under new proposed regulations the group is drafting.
“The group is not against second stories, just how it’s done,” said Ragsdale. He pointed out other cities that have tried similar regulations to curb so-called McMansions have developed a “point system,” a set of criteria to reward developers for making desirable modifications to their project’s design, in exchange for larger Floor Area Ratios (FARs), the amount of allowable development on the overall lot.
“We had a charette recently at the downtown library and a lot of local architects showed,” Ragsdale said noting one major aim of the group is to eliminate existing loopholes that have allowed developers to build projects larger and more obtrusive than those in the surrounding neighborhood.
Bird Rock Community Council chair Andrew Ward noted the annual Bird Rock community picnic, in lieu of the regular Council meeting, will be held Tuesday, Aug. 2 starting at 5:30 p.m. at Bird Rock Elementary School field. As usual, Ward said the event will be catered by Beaumont’s Eatery.
The next Bird Rock Community Council meeting will be Tuesday, July 5 at a site yet to be determined.