Neighborhood Development

Senior Day Care Facility, Apartments at 17th/Montana.
The owners of the property on the Northeast corner of 17th and Montana (749 17th St.) are proposing a new development for the site, which currently has five apartment units on it. The new proposal calls for a senior day-care center large enough to accommodate 40-48 people daily, seven new apartments (with only half a parking space per apartment) and three new luxury condos.

The owners envision using shuttle buses or vans on a daily basis to drop off and pick up many of the seniors using the day-care center. Buses, vans and cars would access this new development from Montana, via a semicircular driveway. There would also be a separate driveway (located on Montana) leading to a subterranean garage, which would provide 19 parking spaces.

Many area residents are concerned about the size of this project and the impact it would have on traffic and safety. Last October, the city sponsored a meeting with the developer and residents to discuss the project details. More than 80 area residents attended the meeting, with the majority expressing opposition to the project and concerns about its impact on the neighborhood.

Recently, the city issued an environmental impact report (EIR) on the project. It says the proposed project would a have “significant and unavoidable impact on traffic and that “no mitigation measures exist that would fully eliminate the addition of significant traffic volumes to the affected street segments.

Based on the feedback NOMA has received from residents, as well as the findings in the EIR, NOMA is opposed to this project.  We are very concerned about its impact on increased traffic, pedestrian and public safety, parking and its inappropriate scale for our neighborhood.

Residents are urged to read the EIR at: www.smgov.net/planning/planningcomm/environmentalreports.html

The developers have applied for both a Conditional Use Permit and a General Plan Amendment, without which the project as proposed can not go forward.  

The March 19 hearing on this proposal has been postponed; a new date has not been set.  Log onto http://www.smgov.net/planning/planningcomm/planningagendas.html to check on a new hearing date.

NOMA urges anyone interested in making his or her opinions known to contact the Planning Commission:  
Julie Dad at juliedadsm@aol.com
Gleam Davis at gleam.davis@gmail.com
Jay Johnson at jaypjohnson@earthlink.net
Hendrik (Hank) Koning at hkoning@kearch.com
Terry O’Day at today@environmentnow.org
Gwynne Pugh at Gpugh@pugh-scarpa.com
and Jim Ries at Jim_Ries@hotmail.com

If you have concerns and would like to join with other neighbors, please contact Sonya Sultan at sonyafox71@aol.com and/or Ron Goldman at ron@gfarchitects.com.

Teriton Apartments (130 San Vicente).
Victory for the Teriton Apartments! Thanks, in part, to NOMA’s support and urging, the City Council denied the appeal of the new owners and upheld the Landmarks Commission’s designation of the Teriton Apartments (130 San Vicente), a mid-century courtyard apartment complex built in the Bauhaus style. The owners of the apartment complex hoped that City Council would ignore the Landmarks Commission’s recommendation and grant them an exemption to tear down the Teriton apartments. The owner, who had already begun eviction proceedings against the tenants, was proposing to build 38 condo units and possible other facilities such as a temple and child care center. He was also proposing to increase the height limit of the R2 zoned lot. Contact Louis Scaduto at louis@vel.net for more information.

Click here to see NOMA’s 5/2/07 letter to City Council regarding Teriton.

423 Ocean Avenue.
The Landmarks Commission voted unanimously in favor of landmarking 423 Ocean Avenue, and both the City staff report and PCR Services report prepared for the commission hearing state that the apartment building meets several criteria in favor of landmarking. One of the buildings was designed by architect William E. Foster, the same architect who designed the Shangri-La (down the street). The owners of the property are appealing the Landmarks Commission's decision to City Council, as they plan to build 41 condo units.

For more information, go to www.preserveocean.com.