Legal battle on La Jolla Shores

Earlier this month, La Jolla Shores resident and attorney Bernie Segal filed a lawsuit alleging that the City of San Diego violated the California Environmental Quality Act and ignored building codes when it approved a proposal to demolish two single-story units on Avenida de la Playa to make room for a three-story development.

Segal's lawsuit against the City of San Diego's approval of the 8518-square-foot project was filed three days after nonprofit community group La Jolla Shores Tomorrow filed a similar suit.

As reported by the Reader, Bob and Kim Whitneys’ project surfaced in 2009; residents immediately objected to its size. The following year, a hearing officer for the city signed off on the proposal. Soon after, the La Jolla Community Planning Association, La Jolla Shores Tomorrow, and Segal appealed the decision.

In September 2010, planning commissioners in San Diego denied the appeal. Members of La Jolla Shores Tomorrow then appealed to the city council to stop the project. On September 22, 2010, the city council obliged.

The project did not go away, and neither did the Whitneys. In 2011, they sued the La Jolla Community Planning Association for allegedly holding illegal meetings to discuss and later join in opposition to the project.

The lawsuit widened the rift between Whitney, his neighbors, and members of the planning group.

In a July 2011 La Jolla Light article, attorney Segal said, “This lawsuit by the Whitneys is so frivolous and devoid of merit that it ultimately could subject them to personal liability for having brought it.

"The [La Jolla Community Planning Association] was looking out for the residents of La Jolla when it opposed the Whitneys’ project in its present massive configuration, and the city council saw merit in [their] position when it granted [their] appeal. Instead of trying to accommodate the [La Jolla Community Planning Association's] concerns by toning down the size of their project, the Whitneys have started a court action to impose their will on the residents of La Jolla.”

Meanwhile, the Whitneys’ architects were busy revising the project. That same month, July 2011, the Whitneys submitted their revisions to the city. After additional delays, the city approved the project in February 2015.

This new round of lawsuits has put the city in the middle of the issue.

In his November 5 petition, Segal says the city didn’t follow state environmental guidelines when reviewing the project: it failed to examine alternatives or require mitigation for the adverse impacts the development will bring on the environment.

Segal also says the city allowed the Whitneys to treat an alley behind his property as a street; doing so poses visibility and access issues, says Segal.