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Neighbors press commission over private‑road damage, dust and penalties tied to long 43 Cliff project
Summary
Neighbors said long running construction at nearby properties has left a private section of Cliff Road damaged and dusty and asked the commission to require remediation or penalties; the applicant said he is working with neighbors and staff said conditions must relate to the project on the table.
Several neighbors told the Planning Commission the project at 43 Cliff — and a related, longer‑running job at 46 Cliff — has produced persistent dust, parked equipment and road damage on a private section of Cliff Road that they jointly own.
Ben Jacoby, a neighbor at 30 Cliff Road, said the family at 46 Cliff widened a portion of the private road “without our permission” during earlier work and that large items and staging have repeatedly obstructed the roadway. “We started our project construction in 2022. We finished our house in November '24. … With 43 Cliff, you know, the pier has been a hazard since 2019,” Jacoby said, urging the commission to use permit conditions to force remediation or require the applicant to address the road now rather than after another extension.
Applicant Mark Swanson acknowledged the road concerns and said he is negotiating a fix with his neighbor, offering to make a concrete strip in a parking area and address cracked areas, but said he is not willing to repave the road before his project is complete. Staff and the city attorney advised commissioners that conditions the commission imposes must relate to the project before them (the pier and related design/demolition approvals) and that some road remedies tied to property ownership may not be an appropriate condition of the pier permits.
Commissioners pressed staff about the city's ability to calculate CTL penalties and whether payments could be required; staff said the city can calculate penalties and collect them under code, but conditioning immediate repaving or payment as a prerequisite to design review requires a nexus to the project before the commission. The commission encouraged the applicant to continue direct negotiations with neighbors as a practical matter.
