Plans to build a three-story, mixed-used building on Avenida de la Playa in La Jolla Shores have reanimated concerns about the Shores’ Planned District Ordinance (PDO), its blueprint for growth. On Oct. 1, the La Jolla Community Planning Association (LJCPA) rejected, by a vote of 14-1, property owner Bob Whitney’s plans to demolish two one-story buildings at 2202 and 2206 Avenida de la Playa. Plans called for building a three-story structure with 2,300 square feet of commercial space on the ground floor, an underground parking structure and two upstairs residential units for a total 9,228-square-foot development. La Jolla Kayak and a vacation rental unit currently occupy the space. The La Jolla Permit Review Committee, meanwhile, had determined the Whitney project conformed to the PDO’s commercial zone and design principals the week before by a 3-1-1 vote. “It’s probably one of the more difficult projects that we’ve seen because the PDO is so indefinite about what you can do and not do that it becomes subjective,” LJCPA President Joe LaCava said. “With this PDO, it’s [so] uncertain what integrates or fits into the plan and what is the scale that 10 people will have 10 different opinions.” LaCava believes the turning point for the trustees came when the architect said he met with concerned neighbors but did not indicate he had modified the design. Property owner Whitney said it was “untrue” to say he had not modified his design. “The neighbor to the east of us asked us to move the wall further back and we did,” Whitney said. LaCava agreed that the project’s architectural style and grading did not fit with the character of the neighborhood. “It’s too big, too boxy and maxes out the development capacity of the property,” LaCava said. “It didn’t integrate with the feel of the Shores community.”   Next-door neighbor to the project and La Jolla architect Dale Naegle has been a vocal opponent of the project. Naegle said the scale of the Whitney project violates the character of the community. “I think the style is imitating architectural elements that are not compatible with what’s been done over the years, which is our tradition,” Naegle said. “It’s what we’ve done that is attractive to the world, that we aren’t trying to be something that we aren’t. What we’ve arrived at is something genuine and not artificial.” Whitney had originally hired Naegle to draw up plans for the building, which Whitney said were “very similar in size and scope but aesthetically were quite different.” “I think the main opposition is coming from the neighbor,” Whitney said, referring to Naegle. “When we saw his conceptual drawings, it wasn’t the direction we wanted to go.” Naegle said that his architectural plan included balconies and setbacks, and was “fresh and contemporary.” “It was everything that we want to try to get him to do but he didn’t want to do it,” he said.  In La Jolla, Naegle has designed the Coast Walk building on Prospect Street, home to The Crabcatcher, the John Muir dormitory and student center at UCSD and Windemere homes on Mount Soledad, among other projects.   Whitney, a resident of La Jolla since 1972, said he was “disappointed” with the LJCPA’s decision. He said he plans to sell his house down the block and move into the upstairs condo with his wife, which he envisions eventually passing on to his children. Whitney said the buildings he will demolish are 50 years old and need to be replaced.   “I believe it’s a neighborhood that is going to be changing,” Whitney said. “There are a lot of buildings like mine that are 50 years old.” The LJCPA’s recommendation will be taken into consideration when the city’s Planning Commission hears the project. Update on lifeguard stations Construction on the new lifeguard station at the Children’s Pool is expected to begin in September 2010. The former lifeguard station was condemned last summer. Construction on the La Jolla Shores lifeguard station could begin as early as January 2010, otherwise will commence in September 2010. The LJCPA meets the first Thursday of each month at La Jolla Recreation Center, 615 Prospect St.