A grass-roots group announced Feb. 2 it is organizing the Point Loma community to convince the San Diego City Council on Feb. 9 to deny a proposed four-lot subdivision on the old Jessop estate at La Crescentia Drive.
Preserve Point Loma, which claims to have 700 members including a wide range of civic leaders, will be lobbying against the Point Loma Summit project at the City Council hearing on Monday, Feb. 9 at 2 p.m. in Council Chambers, 12th floor, 202 C. St. in downtown San Diego. The Council is expected to make a final decision on whether to approve the project.
“The site contains environmentally sensitive steep lands and unstable hillsides and sets a bad precedent for future deviations and variances to the San Diego City land use policies. At issue also is a steep, narrow and winding driveway access affecting emergency and fire response,” said Marcie Rothman, co chair of Preserve Point Loma. “This project violates our adopted Peninsula Community Plan and contains deviations to the existing zoning code regarding access, setbacks and height,” said Bill Moody, another member of Preserve Point Loma.
The subdivision proposes densification and dividing up the old Joseph Jessop Estate at 414 La Crescentia Drive into four lots, including the Tudor-style home built in 1926 by Joseph and Mabel Jessop.
Jessop detractors argue that the steep, narrow access and concerns for fire safety with the project could change the community’s character. This, they say, has led to creation of a groundswell of opposition, including several members of the extended Jessop family — Jim Jessop, Anne Jessop Hill, Linda Jessop Fox, Jim Hervey and Matthew Hervey.
“The development crowds buildings that are out of place in the neighborhood and adds erosion risks to the fragile cliffs by water runoff. The project requires multiple deviations from the requirements of the municipal code and is inconsistent with the Community Plan,” said Jim Jessop.
The project was denied by the Peninsula Community Planning Board on Aug. 15, 2012 by a vote of 12-0-1. But the project was recommended for approval by the San Diego City Planning Commission on June 19, 2014.
In June 2014, the San Diego City Council denied a similar project, a five-lot subdivision known as the Peeling project, located on Harbor View Drive in Point Loma, due to concerns over unstable hillsides, deviations to the zoning code and issues of community character.
The mission of Preserve Point Loma is to work to maintain the integrity of the Peninsula Community Plan from ill-conceived development.
For more information visit www.preservepointloma.org.