Driftwood critics ready for row

Barbara Diamond

Opposition to the proposed Driftwood housing development is unlikely

to end Tuesday night.

“We will look to the [California] Coastal Commission if the

council approves the development,� said Penny Elia, a critic of the

proposal.

The council has scheduled a special meeting at 7 p.m., Tuesday in

the Council Chamber to review the development proposal, which was

submitted after three years of public meetings and months of private

negotiations.

Developer Steve Vliss agreed to reduce the number of homes from

the 15 approved by the Planning Commission to 11 and will dedicate

230 acres of open space.

Eleven is still too many, said Elia, who moderated a Sierra

Club-sponsored meeting Wednesday night, attended by more than 40

people.

Opposition strategy was the main topic of the meeting. Mark

Massara, director of the Sierra Club California Coastal Program,

vowed to stand with the opposition before the Coastal Commission.

Sierra Club environmental advocate Chris Koontz explained techniques

to delay or prevent developments and how to get an initiative or

referendum on the ballot.

“Don’t do it unless you are fairly sure you can win,� Koontz said.

Elia said she would welcome volunteers. She also promised to have

a bus available for transportation to the Coastal Commission meeting

on the development, which she anticipates will be scheduled in

January, if the council approves the 11-home proposal by Driftwood

developer Steve Vliss.

“I started out opposed to any development,� Elia said. “I became

known as ‘No Development Penny’ and I was hated by the developers.�

However, she has come around, she said, and has submitted a

counter proposal to the council for the development of five homes on

the Driftwood property, restoration of a watercourse and measures

that would include no construction to begin before neighborhood

children get on school buses.

Her proposal also would eliminate development of the

60,000-square-foot lot on the promontory, which she said is zoned for

a 27,000-square-foot home that would be visible from Coast Highway.

Homes in the development will be subject to design review.

Elia said her proposal was the result of numerous private meetings

arranged by Councilman Steve Dicterow between the developer, project

architect Morris Skenderian and the neighbors of the development.

“It is fortunate that Dicterow stepped up to the plate and said

the neighbors hadn’t been heard by the Planning Commission or by the

developer,� Elia said.

The commission held 11 public meetings on the development,

eventually approving development of 15 homes, reduced from the

original request for 19, situated along a looping road that began and

ended on Driftwood Drive.

Developer Vliss agreed to further reduce the number of homes and

redesign the looping road into two, unconnected cul de sacs, which

may present one of those pesky unexpected consequences.

Cul de sacs are consistent with the existing street pattern in the

neighborhood. However, the fire department officials find the design

more problematic for emergency access, according to a city staff

report, and said they would like the road widened or parking

restricted.

Worse: insurance broker Patrick Freeman warned the City Council at

the Sept. 16 meeting that owners of dead-end streets may find it

difficult to buy homeowner’s insurance.

“You should get rid of the ones you have and not approve any

more,� Freeman said.

In addition to the developer’s revised proposal and Elia’s counter

proposal, Laguna Beach architect James Conrad is expected to ask the

council to put a condition on the approval of Driftwood that would

allow a client of his to add to property he already owns on Barracuda

Way by dipping into the Driftwood open space dedication.

“You can ask for anything,� Councilwoman Cheryl Kinsman said. “I

can’t comment on this before I hear all the facts, but the dedication

of the open space in the proposal is extremely important to me and

the city.�

Skenderian agreed that sale of the proposed open space isn’t an

option.

“The Driftwood developer has already refused to sell any acreage

from the open space dedication. The open space will be dedicated in

perpetuity as originally configured.�

The council’s review on Tuesday will include a resolution

certifying the final environmental report and approval of the

findings and a mitigation monitoring program; a resolution amending

the city’s general plan and local coastal plan to delete a

watercourse from general plan maps; a resolution approving the

tentative tract map for the project and a resolution approving the

local coastal plan amendment.

Copies of the staff report and the resolutions are available for

review at City Hall, 505 Forest Ave.