The Laguna Beach Design Review Board continued a planned single‑family house at 31502 South Coast Highway to a date uncertain on Oct. 9 and directed city staff to begin an initial environmental study focused on potential archaeological resources.

Staff planner Daniel presented the project, which proposed a roughly 3,400‑square‑foot home with an attached two‑car garage, decks and street‑front sidewalk improvements on a vacant lot in South Laguna. Staff noted revisions since an August hearing: the applicant removed a rooftop deck, recessed part of the master‑bedroom wall and lowered the highest roofline by about 1.5 feet. Staff recommended approval and had concluded the project was eligible for a categorical CEQA exemption.

Neighbors and multiple board members urged more study. Sarah Anderson, who lives directly across Monterey Street from the lot, said the project “seems absolutely massive and is completely at the expense of my view,” adding she could not see a meaningful difference between the current stakes and earlier site layout. Architect and neighbor comments emphasized changes the board had requested in August but several residents and one outside consultant raised a separate point: archaeological resources have been documented nearby, and Caltrans has found archaeological deposits along Coast Highway in the area.

Board members said the record did not support a categorical exemption without further work. Chair Jared Gibbs and several members said that, given proximity to documented archaeological sites and Caltrans’ finds, the city should not rely on an exemption but should at minimum undertake an initial study to determine whether archaeological or paleontological resources exist on the site and whether mitigation (such as monitoring during grading) is warranted.

The board voted unanimously to continue the item to a date uncertain and directed staff to pursue an initial study scoped to the possible archaeological/paleontological issues. Chair Gibbs cautioned that continuing to a date uncertain will require the applicant to work with staff on the environmental study; if the study finds potential resources, mitigation or an MND (mitigated negative declaration) would be the next step rather than a CEQA exemption.

The board’s action preserves the applicant’s ability to return with additional technical work. Staff said it would work with the applicant on the necessary CEQA steps and on a focused study to address the board’s concerns about potential subsurface resources in the project area.