The City of San Diego has sent out notice that the construction of a three-story dwelling unit is being planned for 4768 Del Mar Avenue in Ocean Beach. A process 2 Coastal Development Permit has been applied for by Justin Salbato for the project.
The permit calls for the demolition of a “non-habitable accessory structure”. The site contains an existing single family residence at the front of the lot, which is 0.16 acres. The new dwelling unit design includes a garage, with the unit having 2,226 square feet.
Plus – following a new trend – the new building design incorporates a roof-mounted photovoltaic system with solar panels “sufficient to generate at least 50-percent of the project’s projected energy consumption”, in conforming to the City’s new, so-called Affordable / In-fill Housing and Sustainable Buildings Expedite Program.
There appears to be several trees on the property, including a large pine tree (possibly Torrey Pine) in the back portion of the lot. It’s assumed that if the project is given the go-ahead, this tree will also be demolished.
Some quick numbers: assuming the floor-area-ratio of this property is the common FAR of OB, which is 0.70, then at 2,226 square feet, the FAR would be 0.817 – definitely over OB’s FARAnd it looks like combined the 2 units will be under OB’s FAR.
New projects are being advised by the City’s planners that if they comply with the City’s green building program, they can obtain exemptions to the building code, and many of these new projects come into OB assuming they can get an exemption to the FAR.
This has been such an issue for the Planning Board that they held a special meeting and decided that they would be willing to allow a 10 percent exemption to the FAR with compliance with the green program. This would allow, then, a building having an FAR of 0.77.
Projects such as this appear at the OB Planning Board for citizen involvement in recommendations to the City’s Development Services Department. However, agendas for the project review sub-committee of the Planning Board are not available, so we are not certain when this project will appear in front of that sub-committee or the full Board.
The project manager is Jeffrey Peterson, and he can be reached at (619) 446-5237 or JAPeterson@sandiego.gov . We have an email into Mr. Peterson asking for a status update.
Existing structure = 1294 square feet
Proposed Structure = 2226 square feet
1294 + 2226 = 3520 square feet
.16 Acre = 6969 Square feet of lot.
FAR = .7
.7 * 6969 = 4808 Square Feet
How does 3520 exceed 4808?
Christo, I rechecked my math – and I erred, so you are correct.
Thanks for the clarification- I was just wondering if I was missing something.
This prop is 3 doors down from me, and my friends who are doing it have been sharing their plans with the neighbors, so it’s no surprise to us. I’m not wild about the tree potentially going and there will be another set of windows looking into my yard, but we are planting our own plants to mitigate that. The interior renovation they did on the front house is really nice (not over the top- but new and more open) and they have redone the front landscaping in a tasteful, waterwise way.
All in all, if OB is going to change (and it will/is)- my feeling is that this is being done to right way. That’s just my opinion- but I as someone in close proximity to it, I’m okay with it.