*** Editor’s note: This story corrects the item printed in our April 24 issue to expand the comments of next-door neighbor Myrna Naegle. *** The controversial Whitney mixed-use project, likely to be appealed to the City Council for a final decision, was approved after substantial debate by the city Planning Commission April 16.
The commission certified a newly prepared environmental impact report for the project as well as a coastal development permit, a site development permit and a tentative map waiver.
The project, at 2202 and 2206 Avenida de la Playa in La Jolla Shores, already seven years in the making, seeks to demolish an existing single-family home. It would be replaced with a new, three-story mixed-use development with retail on the ground floor and condos on the second and third floors.
The project has been a contentious issue, with some nearby residents in the Shores contending it violates the Planned District Ordinance, the community’s blueprint for development. Detractors contend the project’s bulk and scale is excessive, making it incompatible with the surrounding neighborhood.
The Whitneys have said the housing portion of the project will provide residences for family members.
Next-door neighbor Myrna Naegle, whose late husband Dale, an architect, was involved with the project early on, said she opposed it.
“The Whitneys are proposing to build a solid, giant wall 30 feet high by 65 feet long on my property line, on the window side of my home, thereby depriving me of any light and ventilation,” said Myrna Naegle. “In addition, the planning commission only demanded they set back five feet from my property line at the third floor and for just 15 feet in length, which would be meaningless.”
Commissioners gave conditional approval to the project, asking that a 15-foot segment of the project’s third floor be stepped back to allow more “breathing room” for the Naegle residence.
The April 16 Planning Commission hearing can be viewed online at granicus.sandiego.gov/ViewPublisher.php?view_id=8.