La Jolla planners back Soledad Avenue pocket park, oppose new Nautilus Street trees

Some La Jolla residents this week got what they were seeking in connection with two unrelated development projects. 

The La Jolla Community Planning Association board voted unanimously Nov. 6 to support plans for a pocket park or public access area next to a new home development at 1510 Soledad Ave.

It also unanimously agreed to send a letter to the city of San Diego asking for removal of trees that were planted near the sidewalk on Nautilus Street as part of another homebuilding project. Some residents believe the trees will block public views of the ocean. 

Pocket park

The roughly 2,100-square-foot public space on Soledad Avenue would be next to a 4,494-square-foot single-family house planned for a currently vacant lot just east of the intersection of Soledad and Cowrie Avenue. 

The La Jolla Parks & Beaches board voted last month to support a revised plan for the new pocket park.

The project proposes that San Diego vacate a section of Soledad Avenue that was originally intended for street purposes and allow the lot to be developed with the new two-story house, a 1,205-square-foot basement and an attached 780-square-foot two-story accessory dwelling unit. 

In a street vacation, the city agrees to relinquish a public right of way or public service easement to an adjacent property owner or owners. 

The applicant team planned to set aside some of the lot for public use, but as part of local planning groups’ reviews of the project, neighbors and community volunteers expressed the desire for more. 

Thus, in October, the Community Planning Association decided to form a working group to meet with neighbors and the team at Island Architects to see if a viable solution could be reached.

Following two meetings with the working group, Haley Duke of Island Architects presented the latest plans to the Parks & Beaches board on Oct. 28 and garnered its support.

To make it clear the landscaped space is for public use, it is intended to have benches and a wall, fence and hedge separating the public area from the private area. There also are to be signs stating the rules of use, consistent with city signs at other parks.

Island Architects would develop and maintain the park until the property is sold, when the new owners would maintain it. 

Working group member and LJCPA trustee Patrick Ahern said the space would be used more for resting or a place to talk rather than recreation.

“It’s going to be an open layout, so there won’t be a place to hide or be sneaky or anything,” he said. “People aren’t going to be hanging out there.”

LJCPA’s decision will be submitted to the city for consideration.

Nautilus trees

The board’s vote focusing on the project being built on Nautilus Street authorized the association to send a letter to the city asking for additional review of the trees planted there and whether they should be allowed. 

That project, which is underway, will build two houses on two lots in the 1400 block of Nautilus, just above the La Jolla Country Club.

However, city planners have identified the location as a “viewshed,” as mapped out in the La Jolla Community Plan. Furthermore, the plan lists portions of Nautilus Street as “public vantage points.”

On the other hand, the city requires all new residential development to include street trees, which by design have to be near public streets or sidewalks. Thus, Jim Neri, the landscape architect for the project, said eight street trees were planted there under plans for “one street tree per 30 linear feet of frontage,” applying to both parcels.

Some residents believe more trees were planted, and La Jolla Development Permit Review Committee trustee Brian Williams said last month that the trees appeared to be closer to one every 10 feet. He questioned whether some could be moved throughout the property and away from the street so “we can open up some of that view.” 

Adding to the confusion is that the viewshed is identified in the La Jolla Community Plan on a map but it is not listed or named elsewhere. Though city staff checks that proposed projects would not block views in a viewshed, the Nautilus Street viewpoint was not listed.  

The LJCPA letter suggests the viewshed should supersede the street tree requirement and that at least some of the trees should be removed. 

Resident Sally Miller was relieved, saying she was “horrified” when she first saw the trees there. “It’s horrible to think about that view being blocked,” she said.  

Next meeting

The La Jolla Community Planning Association next meets at 6 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 4, at the La Jolla Recreation Center, 615 Prospect St. The agenda will be posted 72 hours in advance at lajollacpa.org.