No third three-story home on West Point Loma Blvd.

In a blow against the gentrification of Ocean Beach, architect Elizabeth Young's plans for a 400-foot variance on a planned three-story residence were shot down by the Ocean Beach Planning Board on February 6.

The home, in the 5000 block of West Point Loma Boulevard, is owned by the Douma family. The single-story house is a few doors down from the entryway to Dogs Beach and shares the block with two three-story homes, one of them nearly completed. The unanimous vote against granting the variance means the Doumas won’t be building up anytime soon.

While some community members agreed with the board, at least ten neighbors showed up in support of the Doumas’ request and to vouch for them on a personal basis. One neighbor suggested, in a somewhat joking manner, that the city should send a limousine to bring the Doumas to the meeting because of how much they care about O.B.

A member of the board read a letter written to the board from mayor Bob Filner (entirety of letter can be read at OBRag.com), who is in support of the board's decision of a moratorium on the granting of variances.

This would have been the third property on West Point Loma Boulevard to have been granted a variance by the city, thus bypassing the O.B. Precise Plan, which the community put into place in 1975.