Council blocks Pike project

A proposed extension of Thurston Drive hit another roadblock at the May 6 City Council meeting.

The council voted 4-0 to deny a variance to extend the road beyond the allowed maximum, as recommended by the Planning Commission. The decision rendered moot Leonora and Gale Pike’s request to divide their property into six parcels, three of them residential building sites. The denial leaves the 13.3-acre property zoned for just one dwelling.

“I agree with the commission,” said Councilman Kelly Boyd. “They can build without a variance and the variance is something we have not allowed in the city: a street beyond 750 feet.”

Individual neighbors, representatives of neighborhood associations, Village Laguna, South Laguna Civic Assn. and Laguna Greenbelt Inc. spoke in opposition to the extension.

“I think every environmental group except the Surfriders opposes this project,” Pike attorney Tom Davis said.

Davis presented a 1 ½ inch thick packet of documents that included a list of actions and studies undertaken to move the project along.

“They have done everything asked of them,” Davis said.

However, the planning commission could not make the required justification for the road extension.

“Commissioners were concerned with the inconsistencies with the general plan and other policies,” City Planner Scott Drapkin said.

The commission’s recommended denial of the extension precluded it from consideration of the portion of the application that related to the sub-division of the property and request for a coastal development permit.

“This has been before us for a long time,” Mayor Pro Tem Cheryl Kinsman said. “They always propose something the city wants to deny. I believe the commission was correct.”

The Pikes had previously submitted subdivision proposals to the city and been denied. The proposal prior to the one presented at the council meeting went into litigation that culminated in a settlement in 2001.

In his background summary, Community Development Director John Montgomery stated that the agreement provided that the property owner could process a subdivision map for three residential lots, together with applications for the necessary permits and variances, and if approved, required the property owner to dedicate a fourth parcel, abutting Park Avenue, to open space.

City attorney Philip Kohn advised the council that the settlement had no bearing on its discussion because nothing limited the city action or processing of the map approval.

The Pikes’ attorney had a different take on the settlement.

“It has to mean something,” Davis said. “The city attorney drafted it and the council signed it. Based on that, the Pikes made their application.”

The lengthy and detailed application included a peer-reviewed geotechnical study, a grading plan, water quality management and landscape plans, and 31 other pertinent documents.

An environmental impact report was also part of the package. The EIR concluded that some adverse impacts could be reduced to less than significant by implementation of the recommended measures.

Council approval of the project would have needed a statement of overriding consideration, by which an agency can deem a project acceptable because the public benefits outweigh the adverse environmental impacts.

“In all my years on the council, I have probably never seen such an education in understanding the nuances of our rules and the EIR process,” Councilwoman Toni Iseman said. “The care taken with this is impressive.”

But former Mayor Ann Christoph made the case for the denial in 10 words, Iseman said. Christoph pointed out that the proposed lots would have a 45-degree slope, which is considerably steeper than the 25 degree slope favored by the city.

The council took less than 10 minutes to discuss the request for the road extension and deny it.