Dip house denied

Barbara Diamond

A Glenneyre Street property owner’s plans to build a home near

Calliope Street took a dip for the worse Tuesday night.

The City Council voted unanimously to overturn the Design Review

Board’s 2-1 approval of a single-family home and detached garage at

1530 Glenneyre St., popularly -- or more precisely, unpopularly known

as the dip house.

Councilman Steven Dicterow appealed the board’s decision.

“I came to the conclusion that [design review] had failed to

adequately address safety conditions,” Dicterow said.

The appeal opened the project to a complete review.

Property owner Jeff Garner, the applicant and an architect,

planned to build the home for his son on the property, a difficult

site at best. It is located at a dip at the Calliope and Glennerye

streets intersection, with restricted sight lines, and in a flood

plain. .

“As a Realtor looking at property for clients, I look for fatal

flaws,” said Councilman Wayne Baglin. “This property has fatal

flaws.”

However, it had approval from Orange County Flood, a geologist, a

traffic engineer, the city’s Design Review Board and Toll

Engineering, among others.

“It is hard to say that these professional are wrong,” Baglin

said. “[But] because bad decisions were made in the past is no reason

to make bad decisions today.”

Garner said he had submitted three plans to the board, each

smaller than the previous one, before getting the project approved.

Two board members were absent when the project was approved and a

third member abstained due to conflicts of interest. City Manager Ken

Frank left Council Chambers Tuesday night because of a relationship

with Garner. Assistant City Manager John Pietig sat in for Frank.

Thirteen people spoke against the approval, basing their

opposition on safety and environmental impacts. .

“The opponents have all said they would prefer no house to be

built there,” said the applicant’s attorney Gene Gratz. “But this is

a legal building site. The bottom line here is if the [Design Review

Board] is not upheld it is a clear statement that nothing can be

constructed on the site. “

The approval included a mechanical turnaround so that anyone

exiting the site in a vehicle would be facing out into traffic.

“I think a mechanical system is bunk,” Baglin said. “I don’t think

they get used.”

He wanted a guaranteed system that no one, ever, could back off

the property -- perhaps having the turntable connected to gates that

would open only when the turntable was in operation.

“Gene has said, if not this house, then nothing,” Councilwoman

Toni Iseman said. “This is a rare site, looking back into the

[Bluebird] canyon. A house would have to be pushed back out of the

watercourse and have to address the loss of public views.”

Gratz suggested the council might explore some design solutions,

but Baglin said the council does a miserable job at design review.

“There are only two options,” said Mayor Cheryl Kinsman. “Go back

to design review or we vote to deny.”

Garner chose the vote.