La Jolla permit reviewers approve Muirlands-area project

Plans for a Muirlands-area home build project that would nearly double the size of the pre-existing property got the support of the La Jolla Development Permit Review Committee during its Dec. 9 online meeting.

The project at 6555 El Camino del Teatro would demolish a 2,691-square-foot house and its garage and build a new two-story, 4,495-square-foot house over a basement with subterranean parking. Further additions also would include an attached 1,067-square-foot garage and a one-car carport, along with a 639-square-foot detached accessory dwelling unit.

During an initial hearing in November, project architect Roger Sammon from Island Architects in La Jolla described its location as being “right at the corner of Muirlands Drive where it takes that S-curve to the beginning of El Camino del Teatro.”

The proposed overall height is approximately 36 feet, though a 30-foot coastal height limit is in place. But Sammon said the team had several discussions with city of San Diego planners that ultimately determined the basement plays a role in determining where the height is measured from and what may or may not contribute to the height measurement.

“The proposed grade is down quite a bit (from the existing grade) which is where the height limits are taken from,” he said this month. Thus, the city indicated the project is under the height limit.

Still cautious, acting DPR chairman Greg Jackson asked Sammon, “you remain convinced the city’s judgement on the height is correct and is not going to change its mind?” After a short pause, Sammon said “yes.”

During his presentation, Sammon also discussed building and window materials, the location of solar panels, landscaping, and how drainage and runoff would be handled.

With few questions remaining, the board voted unanimously to support the development. The project does not qualify as “major” under a new La Jolla Community Planning Association policy, so it will proceed to the LJCPA consent agenda.

The El Camino del Teatro project was the only item on the agenda. The DPR committee next meets online at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 16. The agenda will be posted 72 hours in advance at lajollacpa.org but it is expected that a project for a La Jolla Boulevard-facing site will be heard then.

That project would subdivide two parcels at 350 Playa del Sur and 6738 La Jolla Blvd. into nine lots. The Playa del Sur property is the former site of a residential building, while the La Jolla Boulevard lot is the former Su Casa site.

The project would build eight single residential units with seven accessory dwelling units, along with a mixed-use building with one residential unit and 801 square feet of retail space.