Two stolen memorial benches at the center of a recent uproar at the foot of Del Mar Avenue should be allowed to stay until the city researches its own role that allowed the benches to be installed without permits in the first place, according to members of the Ocean Beach Planning Board (OBPB). Although the returned benches are said to encroach on a city right-of-way, the board voted 10-1 on Aug. 3 in support of the cliffside memorials. But members decided it was premature to demand permits because the city may have already approved the benches when they were installed previously and simply didn\u2019t keep records at the time. The benches disappeared July 8 when a disgruntled neighbor \u2014 reportedly upset by the unruly behavior of local teenagers who congregated at the benches \u2014 hired a crane to have the tributes removed. Late last month, police recovered them from a City Heights storage yard and KUSI-TV watchdog Michael Turko arranged for their return. Now, the city\u2019s director of transportation and stormwater says the bench owners should have obtained a site-development permit and coastal-development permit, according to Michael Patton, a representative to District 2 City Councilman Kevin Faulconer. Each permit requires an initial deposit of $8,000, according to the city\u2019s website. Faulconer stands ready to put the weight of his office behind any permit application but asked the board to take a position because he\u2019s been getting phone calls both in support and opposition to the benches, Patton said. Patton said Faulconer personally is pleased the benches are no longer in a storage yard and that they have been returned, but he can\u2019t help until the families submit permit applications. But board members said there was too much support for the contention that the benches had already been allowed without permits under programs run by the city\u2019s Parks and Recreation Department or other city channels. The George Story bench, which memorializes a 30-year city employee, was installed in 2001 as a gift to the community, said son John Story. “We donated it to the city of San Diego 10 years ago. I helped go through the process with my mom. The bench was placed there by the city,” Story said. He said the bench\u2019s legitimacy had never been challenged until it was removed last month. “Now, 10 years later, after it was stolen by a private citizen, my family\u2019s being asked to go through a permitting process?” he said. Board member Bill Bushe said, “We have testimony that his father\u2019s bench went through this program. Where\u2019s the counter evidence?” Not everone agreed, however. “If it doesn\u2019t have a permit, regardless of whether it was there before, I think the law\u2019s got to stand,” said Ronson Shamoun, who cast the only dissenting vote. “Everything should be there legally.” Tony Cappellucci, who owns the bench placed in remembrance of his son, Anthony “Butch” Cappellucci, said permission for the two benches should be grandfathered without permits. He said he\u2019s encountered many confused looks at the city\u2019s Department of Development Services when he has inquired about permits. He said an employee who gave him an application told him he\u2019d never seen a site-development permit for a bench before. Cappellucci said the employee told him, \u2018I don\u2019t know how you\u2019re going to fill it out. This isn\u2019t structural.\u2019” Ken Doncouse, a resident who said he is opposed to the benches, said he was asked to examine the area and found evidence of homeless activity and unsanitary conditions at the cliffs beyond Del Mar Avenue. He said he had worked for two property owners, one of whom was the man who hired the crane operator to remove the benches. “These are multimillion dollar properties,” said Doncouse. “If I was a homeowner there, I would be highly upset.” <\/br>In other OBPB news:<\/b> \u2022 If you want to keep a few hens in your backyard, why should anyone else give a cluck? That\u2019s what the board decided in an 11-0 vote to reduce restrictions on backyard hens. Current law allows up to 25 chickens \u2014 of either gender \u2014 on a property. But the coop must be 50 feet from any residential structure. One proposal being shopped around to various community planning boards would reduce the buffer to 20 feet from the nearest neighbor\u2019s house and proposes no buffer to the owner\u2019s house for a group of five hens or fewer \u2014 with no roosters. The board declined to recommend that specific proposal, but approved more liberal laws for backyard chickens and urban agriculture. \u2022 Faulconer is holding a community coffee on Aug. 25 from 9 to 11 a.m. at Shades Oceanfront Bistro, 5083 Santa Monica Ave.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Two stolen memorial benches at the center of a recent uproar at the foot of Del Mar Avenue should be allowed to stay until the city researches its own role that allowed the benches to be installed without permits in the first place, according to members of the Ocean Beach Planning Board (OBPB). Although the […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":726,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"11561","_seopress_titles_title":"Cliffside memorial benches at center of permit debate","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11551,11593,11561],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-299796","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","category-no-images","category-peninsula-beacon"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/299796","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/726"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=299796"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/299796\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=299796"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=299796"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=299796"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}