The proposed plans to shore up the La Jolla home would include a shotcrete wall with tiebacks to address predicted bluff failure.

Plans for a seawall to protect the house at 5360 Calumet Ave in La Jolla were approved at a city of San Diego hearing Aug 19.

The project proposes the construction of a lower coastal bluff seawall, including the application of reinforced shotcrete and installation of 21 tieback anchors at variable depths, spanning about 70 linear feet across the bluff edge and conforming to the contours of the existing bluff surfaces.

At a July 2025 La Jolla Development Permit Review meeting where the same project was recommended for approval, applicant representatives indicated the work was needed to address signs of bluff failure, which has already caused distress to the adjacent patio and is likely to affect neighboring homes.

A 2023 geotechnical report evaluating the location’s coastal bluff erosion and stability found the residence is “currently susceptible to deformations and damage resulting from a … failure occurring along the sensitive coastal bluff slope,” city project manager Mark Lopez said Aug 19.

The vulnerability presents life and safety concerns, Lopez added.

The project requires the recording of a covenant easement, he said, to ensure the preservation of environmentally sensitive lands outside the development area; there will also be a mitigation payment derived from the California Coastal Commission’s beach sand mitigation program to fund sand replenishment.

There will not be any loss of beach, the project’s biologist said, adding there will be added monitoring to ensure the beach remains as it is.

All plans are “within the parameters of the Coastal Act and the city’s local coastal program,” applicant representative Bob Trettin said.

Trettin also represents the homeowners at 5322 and 5316 Calumet Ave, as those and other Calumet homes are in need of support as well; the repeated threat to houses along that bluff has prompted larger conversations about how to mitigate disaster from erosion and bluff deterioration.

“This is the time period where that street has been hit after 50 years of having homes there,” Trettin said. “The beach there has large cobbles that go out quite a ways, and when you have high winter wave activity, those cobbles are being picked up and thrown into the bluff.”

San Diego hearing officer Jeffrey Szymanski approved the project; it becomes final in 10 business days unless an appeal is filed.