Compromise settles dispute over views

Blue Lagoon condominiums will still have an ocean view — even after a new, 7,700-square-foot home is built on property that is part of the Montage Resort & Spa.

Mayor Pro Tem Cheryl Kinsman brokered a deal that Blue Lagoon condominium dwellers and a Montage property owner accepted for a home at 1 Atelier Lane.

The City Council voted 3-2 to reduce the height of the proposed home by one foot and to limit the height of the landscaping along the wall that separates the two properties. The compromise was worked at the May 20 council hearing. The project as approved by the Design Review Board in April had been appealed by a condo owner.

Councilwoman Toni Iseman and Mayor Jane Egly voted against the compromise, which was a foot less than they wanted.

“We would rather have had the two-foot reduction in height that Toni and Jane favored, but we are grateful that the council took the time to come out and see the impact of the proposed plan,” appellant Bari Burns said. “And we are thankful that the council upheld the 2001 landscaping agreement for the perimeter wall between Blue Lagoon and Montage Resort and Spa, to which both parties had agreed.”

Burns appealed the Design Review Board approval of the Atelier plan on behalf of condo owners whose views will be impacted by the 7,700 square-foot residence, attached two-car garage and landscaping.

The council reduced the roof heights of the proposed residence from 16 feet, 6 inches to 15 feet, 6 inches at the highest points. Landscaping was limited to no more than five feet above the block wall, with no hedgerow effect — a foot lower than approved by the board.

Burns still is seeking an official grading plan for the Montage property, a pursuit she said has been thwarted for five years.

“Blue Lagoon has the right to confirm that Athens Group is in compliance with a signed or stamped grading plan for which the city has responsibility,” Burns said. “The grading plans are important to confirm that the elevations of proposed projects are in compliance.”

A city planner said grading plans — designated as final or tentative, not stamped or signed — are approved with the tentative or final tract map. “As-built” grading plans are exactly that, the planner said.

Burns also disputed a claim that a pre-existing agreement on building heights had been struck between Blue Lagoon owners and Athens Group, which built the Montage.

“Jim Korsen, who has lived in Blue Lagoon for 35 years, testified that he was not aware of any document that stated that Blue Lagoon accepted the heights presented by Athens Group,” Burns said.

Morris Skenderian is the architect for the plan for 1 Atelier, in the area of private homes on the former Treasure Island Mobile Home Park developed as Montage Resort and Spa by Athens.

He met in January — prior to the design review hearing on the project — with representatives of Montage, Athens Group and Blue Lagoon condo owners.

In a meeting memo, Skenderian stated the meeting was held to review Design and Construction Guidelines for Montage Estate homes, and the as-built grading plan, for compliance.

The guidelines were established in 2001, the result of lengthy joint meetings of the Planning Commission and the Design Review Board.

Garry Brody, president of the condo owners association, wrote in an undated letter submitted by the appellant, that city and California Coastal Commission requirements imposed on Montage reflect a policy of protecting the views which will be impacted by “whatever” is constructed, planted or installed on those properties.

Ocean views enjoyed by the condo owners for approximately 40 years, according to Burns, would have been reduced by 80% if the board’s approved plan had not been amended by the Kinsman compromise, and condo owners will be keeping an eye on new projects.

“There are two more lots in front of us and we will be closely monitoring the proposed homes and landscaping,” Burns said.