The La Jolla Shores Association will write a letter to the San Diego City Council asking for an update to the lot’s description. 

An empty plot of land deemed surplus in La Jolla is not as described, according to members of the La Jolla Shores Association, which voted unanimously Jan 21 to send a letter to San Diego City Council President Joe LaCava and the eight other council members laying out LJSA’s concerns. 

The parcel on Torrey Pines Road, located east of Lookout Drive at the north end of Boulevard Place, is a 0.22-acre site measuring 9,506 square feet.

The city of San Diego acquired the lot in 1960 to provide residential access to Boulevard Place during the construction of Torrey Pines Road; in November, the City Council’s Land Use & Housing Committee declared the parcel of land “exempt surplus land.”

The declaration is a procedural step in a “rather lengthy” process that could authorize the parcel for sale to private developers, LaCava’s La Jolla community representative, Joaquin Quintero, said at LJSA Jan 21.

City-owned properties may be considered for sale if they are not currently used by any city department; do not have a foreseeable city use; are non- or under-performing; or, if sold, would provide a greater public benefit than retention or lease.

The process to authorize a potential sale for this parcel, as it’s within the California Coastal Zone, would also include its being made available for possible use as open space.

A potential sale, however, had nearby resident and LJSA board member Karen Marshall, who “freaked out,” she said. “The information … is incorrect.”

“The biggest concern is how they’re describing that this lot can be used and accessed,” LJSA member Janie Emerson said.

The lot is actually perched above Torrey Pines Road, she said, set atop and slightly behind a huge wall. 

“There’s no easily possible way to access the lot from Torrey Pines Road,” Emerson added, due to the height of the wall and the steepness of the lot.”

The lot might be feasible for a single house on stilts, she said, but not much else.

Additionally, the road leading to the parcel is too narrow for more than one car, Marshall said; public transit access to Torrey Pines Road isn’t practical with the hill.

“I have no problem with [the city] selling the land because it’s obviously not been taken care of,” Emerson said. “My concern is that the description does not match the actuality, and that somebody is going to be buying something that is not as purported by the city.”

The LJSA letter will “make it very plain to the council members that what they’ve been presented about this lot is not reality,” she said. “They need to have an accurate description.”

“We’ll keep you all updated as the process develops,” Quintero sai.