Who’s Responsible for Crumbling Monument to Dysfunction at Entrance to Ocean Beach?

By Kevin Hastings

Every day, I drive past a half-finished structure that is covered in tar paper and crumbling away behind weeds and chain-link fencing. It stands at the corner of West Point Loma and Sunset Cliffs Blvd. as a monument to the utter dysfunction of San Diego’s Development Services Department (DSD).

In 2021, the owner of the former Valvoline station applied for a permit to “remodel” the building into a modern drive-thru oil change facility.

Plans included the excavation of a basement-level service pit under the entire building and the addition of garage doors for vehicles to exit onto Lotus Street.

In DSD terminology, a “remodel” project reuses at least 50% of the exterior wall’s structure. While the building is, for all practical purposes, a completely new structure, the “remodel” status allows the applicant to use certain design elements, or “previously conforming conditions,” that are no longer allowed under new building code.

Remodel projects also can qualify for a “ministerial permit,” a simpler and cheaper permitting process. Removing more than 50% of the exterior wall structure triggers what is called a “discretionary permit.” This treats a project as a new construction that must follow all the new and more restrictive codes, including parking, setbacks, and building envelope.

And here in Ocean Beach, discretionary permits also require an expensive Coastal Development Permit, and includes noticing all the neighbors and presenting at
the Ocean Beach Planning Board. In short, the original wall studs in an older building like the Valvoline station are practically worth their weight in gold if they can be left in place.

The applicant [name?] obtained a ministerial permit and began the “remodeling.” Then in early 2023, the contractor on the project abruptly removed the building’s original walls. There are varying accounts of exactly what happened, Some blame the city inspector. Some blame the contractor. Some even blame Mother Nature.

Despite community pushback, the contractor kept on truckin,’completing the basement excavation, shoring, utilities, and basically the entire building except for exterior siding and roofing. Except that the project was now in violation of the approved remodel drawings.

The design team was now forced to apply for a Coastal Development Permit and make the building comply with new codes. This introduced a new and unexpected requirement: “visibility triangles” that allow pedestrians or drivers approaching a driveway or intersection to see a car before entering its path. If you’ve ever had to peek around a building to check for traffic, it was probably built before the visibility triangle requirement.

One block away, the entire first floor of the Plant Power building is bevelled 25 feet back from the intersection. Its “visibility triangles” extend from the propeerty line. For the Valvoline building, “visibility triangles” would require significant demolition or even relocation of an existing building with a basement.

All these issues came to light shortly before the applicant came to the OB Planning Board in late 2023. The applicant made it clear that including visibility triangles would force them to abandon the project. They tried to appease the Board by offering aesthetic improvements such as beach-themed exterior siding colors instead of a
standard stucco finish.

The Ocean Beach community was unmoved. Residents objected to the potential impacts of the drive-thru operation, particularly onto the very narrow and mostly residential Lotus Street. The Board ultimately declined to make a recommendation until the applicant resolved the visibility issues with DSD.

Last month, the applicant returned to the Planning Board with no significant design changes. The Board and the community raised the same issues. But this time, the
applicant announced that DSD had signed off on the design. Instead of providing the required 25 feet of visibility at Sunset Cliffs Blvd. and Lotus Street, the applicant hired a traffic engineer to attest that approaching traffic could see 2 feet beyond the corner of the building. For the garage exit to Lotus Street, they proposed a convex mirror overlooking the sidewalk, and red/green lights to guide customers out. They also promised that Valvoline employees would guide vehicles out safely onto Lotus.

DSD decided that these were acceptable alternatives, and it ruled that the applicant was exempted from obeying the code.

Some at the meeting argued that the applicant should be allowed to follow the same footprint as the existing building. However, several recommended that the
building be constructed without the drive-thru feature. Another pondered if the impacts would be worse if it were a drive-thru coffee shop instead.

It was abundantly clear that DSD was breaking its own rules to accommodate the applicant’s major mistakes. Whether or not the project qualifies as a “remodel” after original walls were removed, the garage exits onto Lotus Street were brand new and needed to comply with new code.

I have reviewed many project plans during my tenure on the Board. I have never seen one where such blatant violations were accommodated by DSD. The Board ultimately voted to deny the project due to the visibility/safety issues and the loss of 2 public parking spots on Lotus Street. What happens next is out of the Board’s hands.

DSD will likely ignore the Board’s vote and approve the project. There will be an opportunity to appeal the decision at the San Diego Planning Commission IF anyone is willing to pony up the $1,000 appeal fee. The vast majority of appeals fail.

However, the most recent two OB appeals before the Planning Commission were successful. In both instances, the appellants hired a land-use attorney to help make
their case. Do you think the city should allow this drive-thru oil change to proceed, or should it be reimagined? Leave your input below.

Kevin Hastings has served on the Ocean Beach Planning Board since 2018 and chairs its Project Review Committee.