By Lynne Miller
“Oh Auntie Em, There’s No Place Like Home!”
Well Dorothy, we local types who live in Ocean Beach, Point Loma, and Sunset Cliffs love your sentiment. We are working pretty hard to keep our small beach village simple and pristine. We aren’t worried about a tornado taking us away to Oz, where witches and munchkins live. In fact, we live in this place now, that has its own kind of magic. Not too long ago our village by the sea was scattered with beach cottages, and a sunny life style. There used to be a theater in town, several small retail stores, restaurants and beach bars. Its magic is slowly being replaced by ideas that see our old-school magic as a threat.
It sounds crazy but we are fighting ideas. Remember when our ideas into laws about safe traffic flow, land use that resulted in specific zoning, like R1, R2, commercial and residential zones. Many here fought to preserve our history, our environment, and our coastal zone. OBceans have always been willing to fight for things like clean air and water, bike lanes, Dog Beach. and against takeover by Big Corporations.
Take a few minutes to drive or pedal around OB and PL. Tally the number of small cottages and conversely the number of large homes, condos, apartments, and empty retail businesses. Something has changed at home, and a big part of that something is government ideas that interfere with our way of life. Waiving all the laws that helped create our village and replacing them with ideas like Complete Communities which include high density housing and towers of apartments in vertical Real Estate.
This is the recent mandate-driven attack that we have faced. So, when an idea like a rooftop cafe,/bar with music and dancing is put in writing in the form of a liquor license, we locals have a reaction. We don’t all think the same, thank God. Some out there are excited that they might be able to walk to a place, sip a wine or beer, and hear music as the moon rises. Some of us are on alert, why?
We, the locals, have fought more than our fair share of battles with ABC and the City of San Diego re: ADUs and Complete Communities. We are trying to keep a modicum of what was/is Ocean Beach, and its historic cottage character. We have lost so much of what was a charming small village by the sea. Because of our history we are suspicious.
Plans for a wonderful 8-unit apartment building on a mess of a corner suddenly and without notice turned into a 20-unit building (on the same Real Estate). All the Zoning, Coastal Restrictions, and Environmental regulations were waived by the city. The new laws were designed to help builders and out-of-own financiers. So we locals have reason to be suspicious. The neighbors waited for that 8-unit building to begin. It never did. Thanks to the OB Rag, we learned about the 20-unit building and began to learn, explore, and go to battle.
To the new owners who purchased the property at 1404 Sunset Cliffs Blvd in January, as well as a home in the area, this is not personal. Well, it is to homeowners who abut your property, and others blocks away who will hear the music and loud voices from the outside ‘cafe’. You are new here, you just happened to step into the mire. Nobody at the City of San Diego, not the mayor or the City Council, or a member of the Developmental Services Department, contacted us to explain why the 8 units changed into 20. Even at meetings the ‘why’ was not disclosed. In fact, when I asked if the owner would consider returning to the original 8 units, someone on the OBPB that night, and the developer said in unison, “it doesn’t pencil out”. We locals figured that somehow the owner and developer ‘heard’ that there was this new program in town, called Complete Communities. They could, on the same plot of land, build 12 more units, do it faster, and likely cheaper due to special funding for high-density housing. What if we locals say, “okay, you go ahead and get your ABC license, you go forward with your plans”. Then what if suddenly your submitted plans for building change, what if the City tells you “hey you can triple your profit if you work together with us and use our Complete Community Plan.”
Many of your new neighbors here are suspicious with good reason. What if we do nothing to protest or appeal? What if a quaint little coffee shop magically grows into a several-story building (it is mixed-use). Even if we are protesting, we do not dislike you, new owners. We just have a low level of trust in our local government. We are fighting for our homes, our way of life. So many what ifs. What if you begin to build, and find out the expense is too great, and you have to self? What if the new owner can afford a much larger structure and has ideas about making more money from more people? What if one day, 10 years from now Point Loma Avenue looks just like Voltaire. What if many decide to move because it is too congested, there is no infrastructure to accommodate all the new folks in what was our seaside village. What if, Dorothy, there REALLY is no place like home?
Sunset Cliffs will suffer if a roof top bar is added at the foot of Point Loma Ave. More traffic, more noise, more concern for safety in our neighborhood negatively affects us all. Let’s continue the fight for our beautiful community!!
I can only imagine how much the sound would project all around the neighborhood even to my place 2 blocks away, and there are homes literally right there across the alley! Hoping this does not get realized. :(
I was considering submitting a protest and began doing my homework, starting with taking a look, and a picture, of the ABC notice posted on the building. I would recommend that anyone considering a protest do the same. The notice says nothing about a roof top bar. I reread the several OB Rag articles that had “Roof Top Bar” in the headlines, and found no evidence or links to evidence that the proposed use includes a Roof Top Bar.
I was also told (informally) that the Roof Top Bar would have live music. I have seen no evidence of such plans.
The rumor mill is sometimes correct, but often not. I can not base a protest to a government agency based on rumor.
This is of course, your choice. For many people, it doesn’t matter. Where did the roof-top bar rumor start? I will let you use your imagination. Did you receive the notification from the State of California? People who live nearby did. Perhaps you didn’t. Each of these elements contain, incidentally, the minimum information required by law.
A letter to residents within 100 feet says “rooftop bar.” Owners in person said “planning a rooftop bar.” So you are correct Lyle, you may not have seen this letter and heard about these plans. This is not a rumor and the liquor license, with or without the proposed rooftop bar ,would oversaturate liquor licenses for 92107.
Thank you Angel. That helps a lot.
Hi Lyle, we are the owners of Daylight Coffee, thank you so much for your original comment, we appreciate you doing your own research and encouraging dialogue. It is important to us that you and other readers know that the information above is incorrect. There is no mention or plan for a rooftop in the alcohol license application. There is no plan for a rooftop in our structural improvements which we can share with you all on Sunday.
We also thought this was the ‘OB rumor mill’—which we understood, change is disruptive and it’s important to get all of the information. But given that we’ve repeatedly provided this information, it is clear the author and commenter are intentionally using incorrect information to deceive others into supporting their protest.
We have received several messages of support from neighbors, some of which also let us know that someone came to their door, encouraging them to file a protest because we are building a ‘rooftop nightclub.’ We’re disappointed that it seems like a few people are highly motivated to spread misinformation for their own interests. We’re grateful to the people who reached out to us to let us know what we’re up against here.
Again, we expect different opinions on this project and intend to do what we can to hear them out and incorporate what’s possible to build a space that the community is excited about. We absolutely do not want to disrupt the neighborhood. We’re glad this platform exists to promote dialogue, but we’re extremely disappointed at the misinformation being spread.
Lyle, please join us on Sunday so we can share the facts and hear your concerns, face-to-face.
What letter are you referring to? It could not have been an official letter because the minimum distribution would be 300 feet. Who sent the letter?
You said “owners in person said “planning a rooftop bar.” What do you mean? Are you saying the owners told you this in person?
We’re disappointed that the article ignores our previous comment. Our plans are not to build a bar, and not even a rooftop. We are requesting the option to serve beer and wine at our coffee shop/ cafe and we’re concerned that calling it a “rooftop bar” intentionally misleads and confuses readers. Our plans are to renovate the existing building, not build new buildings.
When applying for this type of license, the permit includes a check box for any type of live entertainment, which includes trivia or acoustic guitars. That check box says “Live entertainment (bands and or DJs)” — we can understand how that would give you the wrong impression. We’re frustrated that the application doesn’t have more nuance, either, because it would help us avoid some of these rumors that are circulating. However, we can assure you we are not trying to operate a night club. We are opening a neighborhood coffee shop/ cafe that will include a children’s area and we will not be serving liquor.
Again, we really hope we get the chance to meet you in person next Sunday so we can discuss live (April 6th at 11am on the South side of 1404 Sunset Cliffs Blvd). We really are committed to hearing your concerns and discussing the facts of what’s planned.
For anyone who hasn’t seen our comment on Lynne’s previous articles, we’ve reposted below:
—-?
Hello everyone. We are the owners of Daylight Coffee, the business referenced in this article. Since there is a lot of speculation in the article, we wanted to provide some information to the community about our plans and ourselves, as well as provide the opportunity for us all to meet in person on the property to discuss the project and answer any questions.
We are planning to convert the existing building into a neighborhood cafe serving coffee, espresso drinks, fresh-baked baguette sandwiches, and beer/ wine/ pizza in the afternoons and evenings. Our hope is to create a kid-friendly, community space welcoming all ages where you can grab a coffee with a friend and go on a walk or sit down for a slow beer. We all live in the neighborhood. This is a passion project and something we hope turns the space into something all people can enjoy. We believe that every wonderful neighborhood is anchored by a place where people can gather, and we believe this is sorely missing from ours.
We are a team of 3 people: Justin Burr, Spencer Gordon, and Jenna Gordon. Jenna and Spencer are the founders of a local women’s health company called Uqora. They now live together in Sunset Cliffs with 10 month old baby, Josie. Spencer and Justin grew up together in San Diego and Justin lives in OB.
Some notable corrections to the article:?-We intend to close at 9pm. We would love to open a rooftop deck in the long term, but this is not part of our initial plans.?-We are not building residential units. We purchased the lot from a developer who was looking to sell it to another developer. A property like this is difficult to make economically viable without developing. It would be a lot more profitable to develop the lot into apartments but instead we are working on this passion project.?-Those who live in the immediate area (500 feet) would have received the letter we distributed along with our ABC application, introducing ourselves to the community.?-We are not planning to build any new structures.?-We are a cafe serving beer and wine. We are not a bar. We are not serving liquor and our license application is explicitly for a restaurant.
We hope you find that our goals with the property are as aligned with the existing resident’s as possible and we would love the opportunity to meet and hear you out. We will host an information session on the South side of the lot on Sunday April 6th at 11am and we hope to see you all there at 1404 Sunset Cliffs Blvd. Thank you!
-Jenna, Spencer, and Justin
There is literally a cafe adjacent to this lot. How is the neighborhood sorely missing this type of business?
Have you ever tried to get a quick cup of coffee to-go at the cafe adjacent and go walk the cliffs? Can you show up with a large group and sit outside while your kids play and your dog hangs in the sun? Can you grab a seat inside and open up your laptop to do a few hours of work there? Can you grab a casual sunset beer with friends after a surf at that cafe? If you answered no to these questions then sounds like based on the description they provided Daylight Coffee is filling a need. I live not too far and I for one am extremely excited about having a nice leisurely coffee shop that I can hang out at, which is not currently offered in this area.
Jenna, Spencer and Justin — send an article to the Rag and we’ll post your side of the story in full: obragblog@gmail.com
Place the text simply in the email.
Thank you, Frank, we would love the opportunity. We will send our article over on Friday so we can include the most up to date architectural renderings of the property. We appreciate your invitation.
Send it early enough on Friday so we can post it that day. Don’t send but the most basic renderings because sizing of the graphics will greatly reduce legibility — by 10am.
First of all, the building probably needs a new roof. Leaks are ok, but not great, for the mechanics and they are used to working inside and outside in the rain. Secondly, rooftop bar was a factual statement communicated to the neighborhood.
Please send the Rag a copy of the statement if you can. Send it to obragblog@gmail.com
Question for the OB Rag moderators – seems like the folks who run the coffee shop are making it clear that this author is putting out a lot of misinformation about this project, maybe let them tell their side of the story in a full article?
They have posted very long comments several times now explaining their side of the story – which does not comport with observations of locals who’ve also commented.
SP Will – you’ve attacked me numerous times (like everytime you come to the Rag to make comments) accusing me of bias around the issues of housing and development projects favored by Gloria and the City Council. The Rag will continue to take the side of residents fighting against the insane housing policies of our corrupted local electeds.
What does this statement have anything to do with a suggestion that you let the people who are in your comments talking about their project in a way that could provide clarity to the OB community (a suggestion you seem to be following through with)?
Seems to me they have told their story very well in these comments but I’m sure a piece by them would be welcomed by The Rag, though not my call. This place sounds like a copy of City Tacos on Voltaire but geared for adults instead of for kids like City Tacos.