Council says no to building higher

Barbara Diamond

There will be no changes in the Downtown skyline anytime soon.

The City Council voted 2 to 1 on Sept. 2 to take no action on a

private property owner’s proposal to increase the height limit on all

buildings in the Civic Art District and to allow second-stories on

artist live/work units. The council majority also voted to take no

action on the city staff’s less encompassing recommendation just to

allow the artist live/work exemption in the Downtown Specific Plan.

Councilwoman Elizabeth Pearson’s motion to approve the city staff

recommendation failed for lack of a second.

The Civic Art District is an overlay of the Downtown Specific Plan

area, which is bounded by Cliff Drive and North Coast Highway, the

central bluffs ending just beyond Legion Street and South Coast

Highway, running through Downtown and out the canyon to the Boys and

Girls Club.

Architect John Loomis spoke on behalf of the property owner of 725

Laguna Canyon Road, who proposed the more sweeping changes to the

city code and the Local Coastal Plan.

Currently the city code allows additional height up to 36 feet

only on public buildings in the Civic Arts District. Privately owned

buildings are limited to 18 feet.

“Extending the additional building height provision to all

buildings in the Civic Art District would be contrary to the intent

of the City Council and the purpose of the Civic Arts District, which

is to focus on arts- and civic-related uses,” planner Kathryn Lottes

summed up in staff analysis for the Planning Commission.

However, staff proposed the height exemption for artist live/work

units in the district, including the central business district-office

and central bluff zones. The Planning Commission unanimously

supported the staff recommendation.