Ebers and Greene.
A group of residents who live close to the controversial project at Ebers and Greene are upset with the project and are getting ready to approach the OB Planning Board about the 3-story wood framed structure still under construction. They want the local planners to take a close look at the site on the southeast corner of the intersection along busy Ebers, a block from West Pt Loma Avenue.
And they believe they can make the case to the planners that the project has committed so many violations, that hopefully the OBPB can convince the city to issue a stop-work order.
The locals – who shall remain anonymous at this time – are convinced that the owner-developer of the project has made so many mis-steps – from his construction plans to the actual work completed up to now – that reason will ultimately prevail and the wrongs will be righted.
This, of course, is not the first time we’ve heard problems with this project. ( See here and here.)
Curtis Nelson of Nelco Properties, LLC is the contractor and Jennifer Quan is the agent/ applicant of this project at 2269 Ebers Street.
The first egregious move by Nelson, say the local residents, is that he submitted plans to the city that claimed only an add-on to an existing single-family residence was being built. But in truth, a completely separate residence has been built up, – the 3 story wood frame is actually a 3-bedroom, stand-alone house.
Not only was it built that way, but the properties have been marketed as 2 separate residences.
Why is this a problem?
Well, for one thing, by claiming it was simply an add-on, the project did not need to go before the OB Planning Board for review and for public comment.
And because it was claimed to be just an addition, but is not, all other kinds of violations have occurred.
- The floor-area- ratio is wrong – and violates OB’s .70 FAR.
- The number of parking spaces available is insufficient.
- The bulk and scale are not in conformity with the surrounding neighborhood.
In addition, the residents believe the 30-foot height limitation was also violated. They assert that Nelson had his contractors come in and add a foot and half of dirt to the grade level in order to raise the overall height of the project, which is probably now over the 30 feet limit from the original grade. And they’ve collected an estimated 120 signatures of neighbors who say the height limit has been breached.
There have been multiple other violations, the locals say. About a month ago, the State shut the project down, due to safety concerns – inadequate scaffolding and asbestos found in a siding; scaffolding has been improved and in mid-June, the asbestos was removed. So, work was able to continue.
The residents have other allegations: the initial builder had no contractor’s license and was fined. Day-laborers had been hired to work on the project at first. Nelson since has hired a licensed contractor who employed seasoned builders.
At any rate, there are so many problems with this project, residents say, that they want the OB Planning Board to take it up as an issue. They hope to get on the Board’s September agenda and begin the process of having the community check this behemoth project out.
We hope the OB Planners do take it up, if not in September, then very soon after that. For every day of lag – of not dealing with the project – there’s additional construction and probable additional violations being perpetrated.
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
yep, hope OBPB can give some time to this. And not to take away from this important issue, but also notice the lovely Torrey pine in the left of the photo! Just sayin’ :)
Yes, retired botanist, in fact the residents showed me damage to the limbs of that Torrey caused by equipment coming onto the construction lot.
I live on Greene and have not seen any parking spaces for this large house. Can you specify where they are?
Good for the neighbors! Clearly, it’s out of scale and surely out of code as well.
The building likely violates §131.0444 (e) because 30′ is max height but heights at minimum and standard setback are lower than 30′
The maximum structure height requirements for the RM-1-1, RM-1-2, and
RM-1-3 zones are stated in Table 131-04G. The angled building envelope
plane requirements apply as follows:
(1) At the front setback line, the height of the building envelope above 19
feet at the minimum setback and 24 feet at the standard setback, is
established by a 45-degree angled building envelope plan sloping
inward to the maximum permitted 30-foot structure height limit, as
shown in Diagram 131-04M.
I believe the FAR for this is .75 rather than .70
Off topic, I see the 4700 block of Del Mar ave has been signed for no parking 9/1 so that monstrous monolithic house must be going up.
Yup, by my reading of the code, the 0.75 FAR applies. That allows 3750 sf including above ground garage space. Believe it or not, properties west of SSCB are actually more restricted at 0.70 FAR.