La Jolla planners ask the applicant, who proposes to remodel a dilapidated Bird Rock home, to return with specific architectural information.
The revival of plans to rebuild a house at 625 Wrelton Drive in Bird Rock will return to the La Jolla Development Permit Review Committee after trustees requested more detailed drawings and information.
The storied house has sat unoccupied since 2019, when the previous owner died and authorities later discovered unstable, illegal chemicals requiring evacuation of neighbors and controlled detonations.
The house sold in 2020 but by 2022, the house had become covered in graffiti, with neighbors concerned about teenagers using the house for parties and drugs.
The house, which overlooks the Tourmaline Surfing Park parking lot, now stands in a state of disrepair, without walls and still mired in graffiti and dead landscaping.
“It’s been quite an eyesore,” said Matthew Khalil, attorney for the project, while presenting the new plans Jan 14 at a DPR preliminary review. “We’re hoping to clean that up as soon as possible.”
The designs amend a 1991 coastal development permit and update a 2023 application to change the architectural style of the house, make it larger and more.
The current amendment calls for remodel and addition to the existing two-story, single-dwelling unit to become a three-story, single-dwelling unit consisting of a 186-square-foot first floor addition, 2,074- square-foot second-floor addition, 115-square-foot penthouse and decks.
After viewing a few renderings, DPR trustees had questions about a lack of specifics related to the project and asked for more information.
“Elevations should show vertical property lines and setback lines,” DPR Chair Brian Will said, as one example.
Committee members asked Khalil to return with a floor plan of each floor showing the proposed new floor plan over the former; setback lines for each floor plan; height limits for every elevation and section; section illustrations; and reason this is an amendment to the 1991 permit instead of a new project.
Khalil agreed to present the requested deliverables at a future meeting.
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