Looking down and west on the district’s main drag – Point Loma Avenue.
As we complete our romping review of Ocean Beach’s planning districts, we round out our visit with District 7 – the South End of OB.
This has been our efforts at a public service as the OB Planning Board is holding its annual election on Tuesday, March 2nd, between 4 and 7pm at the OB Recreation Center, 4826 Santa Monica Avenue.
(Editor: Go here for our reviews of the other 6 districts. Here’s why it’s important.)
Here’s District 7
Here in south OB, the ubiquitous airplanes are off in the distance, as are the other attributes of living in a highly packed urban beach area, the noise, the traffic, the parking problems, the congestion, the tourists and other visitors. One can almost feel part of a different neighborhood than the raucous community to the north, the loud OB.
With nearly a dozen blocks as residential within its area, District 7 does have a slice of a business district along or right off its main east-west artery – Point Loma Avenue.
Other than that, it’s all quiet streets bordered on the west by the beautiful Sunset Cliffs, on the east by Froude Street, on its north by the alley between Coronado and Del Mar Avenues, and on its south by a dirt alley that runs between Adair and Tivioli streets.
The entire southern rump of OB is included in District 7, with the east-west avenues of Del Mar, Orchard, Pescadero, Bermuda, Point Loma and Adair adding their flair to the overall community. North-south, it includes Sunset Cliffs Boulevard of course and Ebers and Froude.
District 7 is geographically one of the larger districts within the OB Planning Area, but it’s probably one of the least dense in terms of residents. Except for the high-rises on the cliffs, there are hardly any apartments or multi-unit complexes in this district. Like District 6, this district has some of the higher economic strata of OB – and you can see that in the new 2 and 3 story rehabs. And like District 6, views and view corridors are important issues.
Based on a windshield informal survey, District 7 does not have the same variety of housing stock as the more north and western districts have. This is probably due to the abilities of the higher economic levels to finance rehabs and new construction of large single family mansions. There is no mystery here.
Point Loma Avenue
The commercial corridor of District 7 is along Point Loma Avenue, primarily.
It includes the Warren Walker private school, a gas station, a liquor store, a pizza place, coffee shop, a picture frame store, a prominent church, a wash and dry, some professional offices – and some very new mixed commercial and residential. Also some new restaurants have moved in of late, bringing the weekend breakfast crowd to south OB.
It’s a very quiet business zone, hardly anyone on the street. Some like it that way.
The vacant building on the corner of Ebers and Point Loma Avenue just cannot get a new tenant. It once housed a mini-store and restaurant related to Ranchos Mexican food restaurant. When that closed, it remained vacant for a long while.
Then the VFW wanted to move in – but neighbors rose up – citing the image of drunken vets stumbling into kiddie sandboxes – and put a kibosh on their plan.
A couple of years ago, a restaurateur wanted to open a fancy place in the building – but his plans too were shot down by rowdy neighbors who complained to anyone who would listen that the restaurant would bring drunks, loud music and karaoke singers. So, the place just sits there.
The Sea Trader has been here for ions.
Last gas. Always there, always more expensive.
What’s part of the mural and what’s real?
The laundry-mat has a very large mural on its exterior wall – looks like it needs repair, though.
Inside the frame shop.
Paintings for sale at the frame store, with reflections of the street.
This district has some wonderful pocket beaches – particularly at the end of Bermuda.
It also includes a section of the Sunset Cliffs Nature Park.
Other Issues
Other issues of this district include the city’s efforts to shore up the cliffs with massive boulder drops over the side, destroying the bluffs in order to save them.
Other issues include a local hotel holding weddings on its fabulous clifftop, with neighbors complaining of all the parking being gobbled up by the wedding guests.
Along with the other districts that front the ocean, there’s always the twin challenges from gentrification and short-term vacation rentals. Each challenge can lead to a loss of community.
Each dot is a short term rental of Airbnb – and there are many in southern OB.
And then there’s the beauty and dangers of Sunset Cliffs themselves.
Yet, another issue for the southern end of OB is the exact boundary of the district: is it the middle of Adair Street as some would say or does it go down the middle of the alley to the south of Adair?
High-Rise
District 7 has the largest high-rise apartment and condo complexes in OB – and they’re right on the cliffs themselves. The massive buildings at the end of Orchard and the one at the end of Pescadero helped give rise to the grassroots movement that passed the thirty-foot height limit.
For awhile a local OB group, the OB Ecology Action Committee organized picket lines and other lobbying efforts in the mid and early Seventies in attempts to tamp down any enthusiasm for these massive cliff invaders.
The exercise of some “property rights” can be detrimental to the community over-all. Here, back in the Seventies, developers installed this massive complex – and sparked a revolution against unbridled construction.
Where Is the District 7’s Southern Boundary
Is this the boundary? Looking east up the hill.
There has been some confusion over just where the southern boundary of the district lays, and since it is the last district in OB going south, it’s also an issue for the entire Planning Board. At a late 2013 planning board meeting, the board reconfirmed that the border is the alley between Adair and Tivoli, and not Adair itself. Some old maps show the line goes down the street.
The alley in question is a dirt one. Imagine – dirt allies in Ocean Beach.
OB Planning Board in action, Nov. 4, 2015.
Planning Board Reps
As all the planning districts do, District 7 has 2 seats on the Planning Board. In every election, one is always open.
Valerie Paz and Georgia Sparkman are very able reps for the district.
It’s Paz’s seat that is open in the March 2, 2016 election.
Take a Tour of the District
Warren Walker private school on Point Loma Ave.
Beautiful but expensive rehabs.
An older cliff house.
The “Hippie House” of Sunset Cliffs
This is District 7.
{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }
Nice feature Editor Dude. And nice photos. With the departure of Trendsetters Hair Salon, Point Loma Ave has an increased number of vacant buildings. It will be interesting to see the changes in the area. Perhaps another mixted-use condo and Starbucks or Coffee Bean, one block from Sunset Cliffs Natural Park. I am sure there will be various opinions, and homeowners and neighbors will most likely be sharing their concerns.
Just a quick clarification of your lead-in sentence. We are no longer a quiet neighborhood with the “ubiquitous airplanes off in the distance”. The fly overhead continually; One can easily read the names of the airlines and almost count the number of passengers on the plane.
Like yesterdays Virgin plane that flew right over Hill st./PLNU and those small FedEx planes everyday.
Perhaps I should do some editing ….
See our new poll on airplane noise.
Did you know the hippie house
SOLD: $1,900,000
Sold on 12/01/15
… and they have re-opened on Narragansett Street
“They fly over continually”. That is poppycock.
Flyovers are happening considerably more frequently. It started when the “green build” began at SAN and even though the airport authority said they would go back to the “red dot” agreement when construction ended- they have not. Plenty of “early turns” being routinely granted.
Concur.
Maybe CVS will want to put a drugstore in.
As planes go, we’ve got it pretty damn easy in District 7. We are nowhere near under the flight path noise like our other OB friends. Point Loma Ave will develop for sure over time, hopefully with locally based businesses.