At last night’s OB Planning Board meeting, World Oil – which owns the corner lot at Voltaire and Sunset Cliffs Boulevard – unveiled their new design for “Sunset Plaza”, their project slated for that site. The former design had been met with derision from the community, so World Oil came back with a new, more improved design.
And it appears this will be what that corner will look like someday. At the meeting, the OB Planning Board approved an extension by World Oil for their Coastal Development Permit (CDP) – the required permit from the Coastal Commission. These CDP last for only 3 years, and it’s been over that since the project was approved by the Board in August 2009.
Without explaining the delay by World Oil, their rep Leslie Burnside claimed there’s now less glass and stucco in the new design. She stated that her company’s CDP expired in February. But they have been working with City staff, she said, and a grading permit was approved April 25 – 27, and their project was put out to bid about one month ago in early May.
There was little hesitation on the part of the Board to approve the extension. One new member, stated for the record, she didn’t like the design, felt the traffic changes in the alley and at the intersection would cause more headaches for that area. She still voted in favor in the 11-0-0 vote by the Board, without public comment or discussion.
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Okay, I’ll take the first crack…
I think this is a much better design proposal than the last rendition. Although I’m sure we’ll hear detractors who probably want some sort of mud hut or a park, which we need to accept is not going to happen. Frankly, I’m sick of looking at that depressing, fenced up, tumbleweed storage facility. A sidewalk cafe, fresh new office spaces, and the prospect of more jobs for locals? C’mon town! This is all good. Remember, they wanted to put a freakin gas station here!
The only hesitation I have is parking & traffic issues. Hopefully those will be mitigated by our planning board. Those people do great, under appreciated work for us all, and the pay sucks. I would also want the board to urge the developers to use sustainable building practices wherever possible. If the company were to highlight the green building practices they use, I think that would help foster some goodwill in the community and help heal some wounds left by the long neglected vacant lot they stuck us with for the past 10+ years. IMO
Well said. As long as they can hammer out how parking will work, I’m totally fine with the design.
I completely agree. That corner is an eyesore. Lets get something in there that’s functional and gives a fresh new look to the area. Traffic is already pretty bad on that corner so it would be nice if there was a plan for parking…we don’t want Sunset Cliffs to turn into a mess like Rosecrans has.
Still not a fan, but it’s much less ugly than the previous incarnation, and probably the best thing the corner’s had going for it since the park was ripped out…I wouldn’t mind seeing this built.
It’s not a pretty building. It would have been better as mixed use building with residential above. It is a typical developer driven template with an ode to Post Modernism. A style that I wish would die. I should have been L shaped. That way the building would have been longer on both streets so the face of the building addresses the street in a more urbane way. I hate gaps between buildings on commercial streets unless its for the public realm like a park. It might have freed up more space for parking behind the building. But a box is cheaper to build. It looks heavy on the corner. There’s nothing wrong with a lot of glass in the right hands of a good architect. Who designed this anyway, the corporate designer for CVS pharmacy? I was hoping they would lose interest and sell it to a reputable developer. Oh well.
I apologize for the quality of the image. Our “original” was too large for the scanner that was set up (although we do have a large-format scanner in the closet), so I simply had to do a daytime shoot of the original as it laid flat on the dining room table – sin tripod of course – with our small, cell-phone-sized digital Canon Powershot.
That building is still an “in your face” design reminiscent of El Cajon Boulevard in the 60s. It doesn’t belong in Ocean Beach. A little softness, setbacks, recesses, anything.