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Board approves new house at 514 Poplar Street with 6-inch roof reduction and plant-height limits to protect views
Summary
Laguna Beach's Design Review Board approved a new single-family residence at 514 Poplar Street, adding a Poplar Street sidewalk and requiring a 6-inch overall lowering of the roofline plus caps on certain landscape heights to preserve neighbors’ view corridors.
The Laguna Beach Design Review Board on April 24 approved construction of a new single-family house at 514 Poplar Street, contingent on lowering the proposed ridge by approximately six inches and imposing maximum heights on specific landscape species to help protect nearby view corridors to Catalina Island.
Planner Daniel Latham (presenting staff material) described the project as a demolition of the existing site improvements and construction of a new residence at the Poplar/High Drive corner in North Laguna. Staff said the applicant pulled the front corner of the house back and eliminated a variance for the driveway slope. The revised design replaces the Harold Drive garage access with vehicular access from Poplar and adds a sidewalk on Poplar where one currently does not exist. Staff recommended the board evaluate view equity before approval.
Applicant representative Chris Baxter described design revisions that pulled the corner in six feet, reduced project square footage by about 50 square feet, replaced a pitched roof edge with a flat roof element and lowered the entire building by six inches (including garage/finished floors where feasible) to reduce view impacts. Baxter said the project seeks to “set the building in the landscape” and preserve coastal and canyon views.
Neighbors raised continued concerns about the potential loss of Catalina- and sunset-oriented “peekaboo” views. Architect Steve Kuartani and a neighbor representative asked the board to re-examine roof eave geometry and confirm the project does not block the narrow view corridor. The applicants and architects responded with plan comparisons and photographs; they told the board the revised roof profile and the six-inch lowering reduce the visual obstruction.
During deliberations board members commended the design work and the applicant’s revisions, and several members said a modest lowering of the ridge (six inches) should be a condition of approval. The board also added plant-height conditions to the landscape plan: limit loquat trees (plant #3) in the rear courtyard to a maximum mature height of 25 feet and cap cherry laurel (plant #9) in the front at 22 feet (or at the lowest second-floor eave elevation) so mature trees do not block neighbors’ views. One board member asked that the landscape plan avoid new tall hedges near the corridor view.
A motion to approve Design Review 24-1847 (new single-family dwelling, decks, retaining walls, water feature, new vehicular access, grading and landscape) passed by roll call; the board adopted a CEQA exemption under Guidelines §15303 (new construction of small structures) and included the roof-lowering and plant-height limits as conditions of approval.
