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Planning panel approves 1035 Loma Drive condos despite neighbor easement dispute
Summary
The commission approved a two‑unit condominium project at 1035 Loma Drive but several neighbors and their attorney urged preservation of long‑standing access rights and asked the city to require a shared easement; staff said title and survey do not validate the neighbor's claims.
The Hermosa Beach Planning Commission voted to approve Precise Development Plan 25‑02, Conditional Use Permit 25‑06 and Vesting Tentative Parcel Map 84794 for a two‑unit condominium building at 1035 Loma Drive, finding the project consistent with zoning and categorically exempt from CEQA. Staff explained the site will be redeveloped from an older duplex into two attached condominium units with modernized parking and sidewalk improvements.
Applicant representative Stacy Strauss said the design brings a legal nonconforming structure into compliance, adds on‑site parking and public‑realm improvements, and that the proposed north wall is fully on the applicant's property. "The wall will be fully contained on 1035 Loma," Strauss said, and staff noted their review of title and survey showed no validated easements that would prohibit the design.
Neighbors Oliver and Francesca Enders said the proposed wall would sit on the property line and block a side path that has been used openly for about a century. Oliver Enders asked the commission not to approve the project until the parties record a shared easement, saying the path provides access to a kitchen door, water heater and tenant storage and that blocking it would be "unacceptable." Attorney Rachel Enders Clark, representing the neighbors, said she did not oppose the development generally but urged a cooperative resolution: "Our request is simply that certain long standing access rights be acknowledged and preserved so that both properties can coexist harmoniously."
Commissioners noted that the planning review addresses development within property lines and that private title and easement disputes are civil matters; they encouraged the parties to negotiate and suggested possible design accommodations (a gate or a stepped‑back wall) to reduce impacts. After deliberation the commission adopted the staff resolution and approved the project, urging coordination among the applicant, neighbors and public works on access and encroachment details.
The commission's approval is subject to the standard conditions in the staff recommendation, including public‑works conditions for any required encroachment permits and coordination on the light‑pole and sidewalk work.
