La Jolla Light
Enlightening La Jolla Since 1913
Vol. 100 Issue 6 • February 23, 2012
Committee approves Farms home project
INSIDE
French-American School celebrates Mardi Gras, A5
Meet Bryan Pease, candidate for ‘La Jolla’ city council, A12
La Jolla Country Day begins postseason this weekend, A20
Birch Aquarium marks 20th year on Expedition Way, B1
By Dave Schwab A redevelopment, downscaled by 20 percent, which was proposed for a 1.5-acre lot in La Jolla Farms got the green light from community planners Feb. 14, overriding neighbors’ concerns that public ocean views would be spoiled by the project. The vote by the La Jolla Development Permit Review (DPR) Committee was 5-3-1 for permitting for Encore Trust Residence at 9872 La Jolla Farms Road. The residence had previously been proposed for nearly 24,000 square feet. Planners Diane Kane, Laura Ducharme-Conboy, Cindy Thorsen, Phil Merten and Lynn Hayes favored the revamped project. Mike Costello, Angeles Liera and Beth Gaenzle opposed it. Chairman Paul Benton abstained. Joe LaCava, a La Jolla community planner representing the applicants, Martin and Michelle Weinberg, noted meetings with dissatisfied neighbors led to a separate proposed guest quarters being eliminated, and an existing beach path through the property being preserved. LaCava characterized La Jolla Farms as an “eclectic mixture” of architectural styles with widely varying lot sizes ranging from .5 to 20-plus acres. “This home fits in with that,” he argued. Not everyone agreed. Neighbor Jim Morris said the project would compromise existing public views, pointing out La Jolla’s See Farms, A9
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Entrepreneur will help homeowners plant edible gardens
Food by the Yard
By Dave Schwab ost people can’t eat their lawns … but at 7437-39 Cuvier St. in La Jolla, they’re on the menu. The edible garden, as delectable as it is attractive, was created by Ari Tenenbaum, a 2004 University High School grad whose parents are both La Jolla High School teachers. Tenenbaum, who went on to earn a plant science degree at UC, Santa Cruz in 2008, hopes to make the world’s food supply more sustainable, one plot at a time. The Cuvier garden serves a
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Ari Tenenbaum founded Revolution Landscape to encourage people to plant tasteful, productive, and practical landscapes. Learn more at www.revolutionlandscape.com
See Garden, A3
Residents want Hillside parking rules put in reverse By Dave Schwab The city says red striping of narrow streets for emergency access in La Jolla’s Hillside Drive neighborhood off Torrey Pines Road is a done deal. Some neighbors consider it a raw deal and want to see it undone. “Someone on Valdes Drive (the dead-end street crowning the neighborhood) came up with some apocalyptic story, without any documentation, that some emergency vehicle couldn’t get through to their house,” said neighbor Kevin Kinsella who’s
spearheading opposition to neighborhood red striping. Claiming that lone complaint “set off the most amazing sort of snowball effect,” Kinsella said meetings between disgruntled neighbors, the fire department and City Councilwoman Sherri Lightner’s office over the past few months has culminated in red stripes up and down the streets that he characterized as “God awful” and an “abomination.” Red striping, claims Kinsella, has forced residents to drive down the
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middle of the street threatening headon collisions. He alleges striping has been done sloppily, looks unsightly, and has effectively displaced parking forcing residents to park further away from their homes and walk uphill which is itself a health hazard. Two of Kinsella’s neighbors agree with him. One doesn’t. “I think the fire department has gone overboard to be fair to everyone,”
See Parking, A9
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Red striping goes up in La Jolla’s Hillside neighborhood to eliminate parking along the streets indicated on map at right.
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