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Design Review Board approves after‑the‑fact landscape changes at 1712 Thurston Drive
Summary
Laguna Beach Design Review Board on May 8 unanimously approved a modified landscape plan and retaining walls at 1712 Thurston Drive that were constructed without permits, finding no neighbor complaints or public-safety impacts and categorizing the action as exempt under CEQA as cited in the motion.
The Laguna Beach Design Review Board on May 8 unanimously approved modifications to a previously permitted landscape plan at 1712 Thurston Drive after staff said portions of the work were built without required permits.
Staff presentation and the applicant’s testimony described the request as a cleanup of unpermitted retaining walls, walkways, minor grading and new plantings. The project sits in the Temple Hills neighborhood and, according to staff, involves battered retaining walls less than 5 feet tall, grading under the 40 cubic yard threshold noted in the presentation, several fruit trees and three palm trees added after the original 2008 approval.
Why it matters: The board treated the item as a code‑enforcement cleanup that restores the approved landscape design rather than a new or expanded entitlement. Board members said there was no evidence of privacy, view or access impacts and no letters of complaint had reached staff.
Staff planner Daniel Latham recommended approval and described the item as a modification to a previously approved landscape plan that had come to the city through code enforcement because the work was constructed without permits. Applicant representative Steve Kawaratani told the board the prior property owner was unaware some small landscape alterations would require approval after the original 2008 permit and framed the request as corrective.
Board members discussed whether the work would have been approved had it been submitted in advance and concluded the built improvements met design review standards. A motion to adopt Resolution 23-1020 approving Design Review 23-1020, attachment 1, passed on a roll-call vote of 4–0 (Board member Coveney: yes; Board member Weil: yes; Chair Pro Tem Gannon: yes; Chair Gibbs: yes). The motion as read on the record stated the action was exempt from CEQA (citation given in the motion). The approved materials and the resolution become part of the project record.
The decision closes an enforcement file by authorizing the existing landscape features retroactively under the design review finding adopted by the board. No additional public hearing was scheduled.
