Neighbors object to property plans

Concerns over safety took priority in the consideration of plans for

an addition to a Bluebird Canyon home at the Oct. 6 design review

board meeting.

Owners of a property at 824 Bluebird Canyon Lane want to expand

their home with adjustments in landscaping.

The proposed plan was brought to the board for concept review, not

as a formal application.

The proposal requires a variance.

With recent mudslides destroying properties in the area, neighbors

took interest.

“We’re four-tenths of a mile from a recent landslide,” said Fred

Pardes, an attorney representing a family whose property rests below.

The type of landscaping that would be necessary for the proposed

plan could have a direct effect on the lower property in terms of

safety and privacy, Pardes said.

Board member Ilse Lenschow said the property was a “difficult

site” and would need to be irrigated properly and have a fence added

to muffle noise.

Lenschow also recommended the plans be scaled down.

Design review board member Steve Kawaratani said he wanted

assurance that plans for irrigation, drainage and grading would

ensure neighboring properties are safe.

In other business, in an effort to set reduced heights in the

Treasure Island area, the board denied a proposal for a 7,579

square-foot oceanfront home.

The proposed height of the new residence was about 16 feet -- less

than the 18-foot height allowed for the Montage Resort neighborhood.

“If we allowed everyone to build to allowed heights, we would lose

hundreds of views,” design review board chairwoman Suzanne Morrison

said.

A neighbor of the proposed new home, Michael Penn, said he would

not accept any height over 15 feet.

With many plans in the neighborhood scheduled for the design

review board this fall, Kawaratani said he wanted to establish a

benchmark lower than the 18-foot maximum, and would vote to approve

structures no higher than 16.625 feet.

Lenschow took a different perspective. “If the house can go to 18

feet and it doesn’t block views, by all means it should go to 18

feet,” she said.

Morrison and Lenschow also asked for more communication between

parties involved.

The property will be reviewed again at the Nov. 10 meeting.