Revised development plans have been submitted for the 2.5-acre blufftop property at Vallemar and Juliana in Moss Beach. The project has been down-sized from 7 lots to 4, with the houses set back away from the bluff edge. The developer intends to create a conservation easement for the rare Coastal Prairie habitat and provide for the coastal trail to retreat onto private property as the sea cliff naturally erodes.

The Coastside Design Review Committee (CDRC) will now evaluate the scale and design of the houses to determine if the project complies with the Midcoast Design Review Standards. The 4 houses are all well over 5,000 sq.ft. and their full height would rise straight up 3 stories (32.5 ft) above the Coastal Prairie as seen from the public bluff trail along this section of Fitzgerald Marine Reserve. The incomplete story poles make it seem the houses will be hidden in the trees – not so. Most of the tangle of trees will need to be removed, leaving all 4 houses in full view of the coastal bluff. The bar graph shows the square footage of the proposed houses (#9-12) compared to the surrounding neighborhood.  

Project approval process:

1 - Coastside Design Review Committee will determine if the project complies with the Midcoast Design Review Standards.  July 13, 2017, agenda   [7/25 continuance letter
[UPDATE: Item continued to 9/14/17 meeting for design changes]            

2 - Environmental Review document (Initial Study & Negative Declaration) will be published for 30-day public comment period.

3 - Planning Commission hearing for project decision (project is appealable to the Coastal Commission)

Project Planner: Dave Holbrook dholbrook@smcgov.org

Vallemar Bluff page has project plans, multi-year project history, and comments on earlier 6-house and 5-house versions.