Is a Rooftop Bar Coming to Sunset Cliffs?

By Lynne Miller

I have been reading the City of San Diego’s Coastal Resilience Action Plan that is close to approval.  The more I read the less resilient I feel.  I don’t know, maybe I have reached the apple-faced age of the old man on Saturday Night Live who might say something like “I remember when there were  just a few people walking along the top of the cliffs,  fewer surfers, and I liked it that way!”

You young kooks who are staking your claim in the ocean never knew those ‘good old days’. I remember when Long Boards began bobbing in the summer surf, and a few locals had woodie wagons to transport guys and their boards to the swells.  It was well, swell. The best you teenagers and young adults can do is watch Bruce Brown movies and glimpse the good old days. ‘Who?’  Google it.

Truth is, if you under 60 kids like any part of Ocean Beach and the Cliffs, you will have to take the baton. ‘Huh?’  You know, the baton that is passed in relay races! I apologize, I am feeling like that grumpy old person who is battle-worn.  No need to take it out on young people with shiny smiles, tight skin, who are wearing rose-colored sunglasses.

Here is the thing– soon Sunset Cliffs will become a one-way street, which means the next street up the hill will also become a one-way street, and it goes right by my house. It may not change traffic too much, since cars make the loop by my house after sunset anyway.

And I hear you shouting NIMBY from that proposed rooftop bar!

That future bar is proposed at the foot of Point Loma Avenue, 1404 Sunset Cliffs to be exact. Here is what we know, and we know very little.  It feels like we have to put on our Dick Tracy hats to figure this out! ‘Dick Who?’  Dick Tracy was a fictional detective who transformed from comics to TV cartoons.

We know that the owners of 1404 Sunset Cliffs Blvd purchased a piece of land with a garage for a whole lot of money.  We know that they came from out of state, and purchased a home in the Sunset Cliffs area for a lot of money. We know that they applied for a license to serve beer and wine (for now) on the premises. We are pretty sure the beer and wine is not for the garage, but for the Daylight Coffee Shop that is opening from 7:00 am to 11:00 pm.

We don’t know the details of the building. Somebody knows, but not John Q. Public.  We are hoping that the design of the building will not be tall enough to support Superman’s journey with Lois. Nevermind, I think you know about Clark Kent and Lois Lane. We only know that the alcohol application states the building will be mixed-use, which means that the plans will probably include apartments or condos, and a rooftop bar.  We don’t know how ‘high’ it will rise into vertical real estate.

We do know that the people in power of city buildings and permitting are pushing their own concept of equity which means to them, high density, small spaces, more people. We know from our own experience that the mayor and Development Services Department will waive coastal zone regulations and environmental considerations.   (Note that I did not include low income, because a building perched on the cliffs with an ocean view cannot possibly be low-income.)

We know this is really not about a need for housing, because we see apartments, condos, and high rises all over the city of San Diego.  We know that Ocean Beach and Point Loma have been targeted as perfect for developers because the location is amazing, and our city government removed obstacles, streamlining the permitting process. Once, a year or two ago, there were a lot of small cottages with large lots. Now, not so many empty lots or small homes.  They have been replaced by ADUs (chuckle), in fact, apartment buildings and condos. Good luck trying to find some land left for a new tree or a small garden. There are fewer yards, or schoolyards, for dogs to run free. No quiet trees for seagulls or their feathered friends to build nests or raise their babies.

People who live in the OB and Sunset Cliffs area can hear the Ocean Beach Life Guard on a busy summer day.  If the wind is just right, or wrong, we can hear bands playing by the OB Pier.  Sound travels, and this proposed rooftop bar is going to have Live Music — they say so in their application.  So whether you like it or not, you will hear loud sounds of music, laughter, and drinking voices leaping into high octaves.  Our quiet afternoons and evenings, well, they will be a memory that young and old can share with the next generation.

Yep, I can feel my apple-face pinched tightly as I think of the proposed one-way street, a new mixed-use mystery building, probably high density, high into the sky  and I can hear the noise.  The noise noise noise noise.  You all know the Grinch, no need to explain. Yes, I remember when the only music I heard while I walked along the cliffs was from my transistor radio that  I held to my ear.  I walked towards the beach with a towel and a few coins for a treat, and I liked it that way!

I hope the new and old residents of Ocean Beach, Point Loma, and Sunset Cliffs will decide to fight for our quiet neighborhood where the sunsets can be enjoyed while the waves drive the surfers to the shore.

An after thought:  Planning for a better community, a better future, is a wonderful idea.  Many minds have put together a thoughtful Coastal Resilience Action Plan. I am not sure that the people in charge of the city have the same visions as the local residents. In fact, I am pretty sure they do not.  Locals fought the city about Granny Flats, sideyard setbacks, parking requirements and more. We were not heard.

Climate change and its impact on natural erosion is real. The shoreline will change, and hopefully planning can change the speed of the erosion.  I am not a fan of the one-way street, but I will not pretend that Sunset Cliffs Blvd is going to escape erosion.  I hope great thought is given to drainage planning.  Sometimes good intentions are not designed by experts, and poorly planned drainage could add to the erosion of the cliffs.

Looking north towards the plans for Dog Beach Sand Dunes I have similar concerns.  What is the percentage of efficacy that sand dunes will reroute flood waters?  Who is deciding what to plant on and around the future dunes.  Some discussion at meetings suggested that incorrect materials were used to try and stop erosion on the cliffs and the wrong plants were used to absorb and reroute rain water.

And about that Shuttle from Old Town to Dog Beach, maybe that needs a doggone good look! If Dog Beach is for dogs and human freedom to run and swim, I have reservations about the plan to shuttle dogs and humans from Old Town.  In fact, this idea alone gives me ‘paws’.  Who is planning all these wonderful improvements to your life and mine?  If the problems are real, then are the solutions found in the plans practical and effective?

While we all ponder this, I have a suggestion. If you do not want a rooftop bar on Sunset Cliff and Point Loma Ave, take action.  File a protest to ABC. If the numbers of protestors are significant we may have a chance.  Of course, this is just the first action in a series.  What comes next?  That depends on the designs of the building and the City of San Diego. Who knows if we the people will have any option to appeal?

See this re ABC license applications and protests. : https://www.abc.ca.gov/information-regarding-alcoholic-beverage-license-applications-and-protests/