The California Coastal Commission on Wednesday, Sept. 15, will consider a request to build a new house at 620 Ocean Ave. The new house will be three stories high on the beach side and two stories high on the street side. This is allowed under the Seal Beach Zoning Code, according to Senior Planner Jerry Olivera.
The project is scheduled to be the first item on the Sept. 15 Coastal Commission agenda and is listed on the consent calendar.
The commission will allow three minutes for each side to speak to the commission about the application.
If three or more commissioners vote to remove the item from the consent calendar, the application will be considered at a later Coastal Commission meeting. Otherwise, the application will be approved.
Coastal Commission staff has recommended the commission approve the application for a coastal development permit.
The applicant, Seal Beach resident Wendi Rothman, is requesting a Coastal permit for the demolition of an existing house that will be replaced with a “6,755 square foot residence over a basement and a 506 square foot attached two-car garage on a beach front lot,” according to the consent calendar public hearing notice.
“The resultant structure would be three stories on the beach side and two stories on the street side,” the notice said.
The city of Seal Beach approved the project in concept on March 23, according to the Coastal Commission staff report.
Olivera, the city’s senior planner, said Seal Beach staff approved the coastal conceptual review of the project. He said the city has not issued permits on the project.
Olivera said that if the project is approved by the Coastal Commission, the applicant would then have to bring the project back to the city for a permit application at that point.
Some residents might be confused by the fact that the building will be three stories high on the beach side. However, 2008’s Measure Z, which imposed a 25-foot (two-story) height limit on houses in Old Town, does not apply to the beach area.
Oliver explained that the project is allowed under the code “as long as the building is 25 feet from Ocean Avenue.”
Because of the way the ground slopes, the lowest story would actually be a basement on the side of the building facing Ocean Avenue.
“That’s always been allowed and wasn’t effected by Measure Z,” Olivera said.
The property is located in the residential low density area, also known as the “Gold Coast,” between First Street and Eisenhower Park, according to Olivera.
Jim Klisanin of Baytown Realty confirmed that he sold the property to Rothman last year.
According to the Web site 2stories4oldtown.com, the official site of the property rights group Seal Beach for Two Stories, property owner Rothman was a supporter of Measure Z. The measure passed by approximately 73 percent of the vote in the citywide November 2008 election.
