Commission approves Signal Hill replacement residence design with conditions after lengthy debate over historic Connell House and tree restorations

The Planning Commission approved design plans and a coastal-development permit to relocate three cypress trees for a proposed 8,290‑square‑foot, two‑story dwelling at 1170 Signal Hill Road in Pebble Beach, but only after extended public comment, technical review and direction to staff to tighten conditions addressing historic‑resource impacts, landscaping, conservation easement boundaries and tree-survivorship monitoring.

Mary Israel, project planner, summarized the project as the design approval step for an earlier, extensively reviewed Signal Hill proposal whose environmental impacts were analyzed in a certified environmental impact report. The property included the Connell House, a nationally and state‑listed historic structure, which has since been demolished. The Board of Supervisors previously approved a reduced-project alternative (alternative 6) with direction that any replacement…