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Homes OK’d near OB called dangerous precedent

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San Diego’s Planning Commission approved two relatively large homes near Ocean Beach on Thursday that angry residents are calling a dangerous precedent and a threat to the area’s small-scale charm.

Many Ocean Beach residents also complain they were denied a chance to weigh in on the project because it’s about 20 feet outside the community boundary.

The 0.11-acre property where the two homes will be constructed is on Froude Street, which the city designates as the border between Ocean Beach and the Point Loma Peninsula area.

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RELATED: OB to stay ‘small-scale’

The Peninsula Community Planning Board voted 9-1 against the project, which they called a “sore thumb” because of its relatively large size and flashy, more modern architecture.

The Ocean Beach Community Planning Board, fresh off persuading the City Council to unanimously approve an anti-density community plan last year, was excluded from the process because the site is just across from OB on the east side of Froude Street.

The two homes are too dense to be approved under OB’s new community plan, but they fall barely within the size limitations set for the Peninsula area.

Both of the three-bedroom homes would be 1,814 square feet, just below the limit of 1,819 for a lot that size, and each would be 28 feet tall – just below the limit of 30 feet.

John Ambert, chairman of the OB board, said the project is a threat to the area, which has been called the last authentic beach community in Southern California.

Residents have fought against becoming more like Mission Beach or Pacific Beach, where three-story vacation rentals have replaced less intense housing in many areas.

“Approval today will allow developers to use the same project as a benchmark to knock down buildings and redevelop them in a similar style, thereby gentrifying the Ocean Beach community,” Ambert said.

Most of the nearby homes are much smaller and their architecture is typically bungalows or Spanish-style one-story dwellings.

“The project proposed is grossly out of scale,” Ambert said. “It does not make an effort to blend into the surrounding community at all.”

Members of the Peninsula board made similar comments.

“This project would open the door to destroying the existing character of the neighborhood,” said Jarvis Ross.

The Planning Commission, which approved the two homes in a 5-1 vote, said it essentially had no choice because they fit within the size limitations of the Peninsula Community Plan.

Theresa Quiroz, who cast the lone “no” vote, said her opposition was based not on size but on the architecture and lack of trees in the proposed design.

“I’m extremely uncomfortable with the way that this looks,” she said.

Many of her colleagues agreed, with James Whalen calling the appearance “stark.”

But Whalen stressed that the surrounding area has eclectic architecture that varies more than neighboring OB.

Commissioner William Hoffman agreed.

“It doesn’t fit in, but I can name 10 homes on that street that don’t fit in,” Hoffman said.

Commissioner Douglas Austin said tastes vary.

In response to complaints that the developer didn’t seek feedback from the OB planning board, Austin said city regulations don’t require them to do so.

Ambert said the city’s approval process for projects is flawed when community opposition makes no difference.

“If the Planning Commission does not listen to the voice of the Peninsula Planning Board or the Ocean Beach Planning Board, then what is the purpose of having community groups speak on behalf of the communities they represent,” he said.

The two homes will replace a smaller, 1922 house at 2257 Froude St. that will be demolished. City officials determined it has no historical significance.

The new homes will be built above large, subterranean parking garages.

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