Another La Jolla committee requests further owner and neighbor outreach on plan modifications to a second-floor step back before taking a vote.
A project that would build a large home at 8303 Prestwick Drive in La Jolla received conditional approval from one La Jolla planning group while another needs more information before taking a vote.
The plans call for new construction of a 6,182-square-foot, single-family residence on a vacant lot with a buried, 2,374-square-foot basement for parking, utility and storage, applicant representative Roger Sammon of Island Architects said Nov 19 at the La Jolla Shores Planned District Ordinance Advisory Board meeting.
The current project is a revision of one started by a different architect and approved in 2024; the owners were informed they could demolish the home before then being notified they needed a coastal development permit.
The house is mostly demolished now, with only a few studs remaining that will be removed, Sammon said Nov 20 at the La Jolla Shores Permit Review Committee meeting, with the new plans now necessitating another round of reviews.
Island Architects
The revised project increases the home’s setbacks from 15 to 20 feet and adds in information about drainage, among other details.
The Shored PDO vote to approve the project included the condition that the applicant step back the second-floor room and walls on the north side farther, allowing for more articulation, conformance with municipal codes regarding facades, and neighbor opposition.
The neighbors to the north are concerned the proposed setback on that side is a “privacy infringement,” neighbor Jan Keane said.
The build’s windows would look “into our living room windows and right at our house,” she added, asking for “at least a 30-foot setback.”
Shores PDO board member Phil Wise asked Sammon for “some differentiation” and a reduction in size of the primary bedroom to accommodate the concerns.
Conceding a larger second-floor step back on the north side “is very important,” fellow board member Kathleen Neil said.
At PRC the next day, Sammon showed a quickly-sketched response to the PDO feedback with accommodations made to align with the requests.
The concept, however, had not yet been approved by the owners nor shown to the Keanes, he said.
A discussion among PRC trustees netted generally positive feedback, but as the owners had not yet approved the modifications and the sketch lacked “solid dimensions, it might be a little too vague at this point,” PRC Chair Andy Fotsch said.
PRC members asked Sammon to return at a future meeting with owner approval of the modifications to the step backs and neighbor reviews.
