Coastal Commission to hear appeal of former Stonehenge property

The California Coastal Commission will hear a second appeal of the building permit for a controversial Laguna Beach property on Coast Highway where a house listed on the city’s historic inventory stood until it was razed last summer.

This second appeal, submitted by several community members, claims the proposed structure will be about twice the size of the original and does not adhere to Laguna’s local coastal plan or public access policies.

The property, at 31381 Coast Hwy., originally featured a 2,654-square-foot single-family home, built in the 1920s and known as Stonehenge. The Environmental Coalition of Orange County listed the site on the historical inventory in 1981. The city annexed South Laguna six years later, and the house was added to Laguna Beach’s historical inventory in 1991.

The lot included a detached garage, a guesthouse and a beach-access stairway.

John Meehan bought the property in 2011 after several remodels and years of abandonment had left the house in disrepair. Meehan received city building permits to allow for the structure to be demolished and a single-family residence built.

Members of Laguna Beach preservation groups appealed the permits in an attempt to maintain the historic structure of the house. The Coastal Commission, in a 12-0 vote, sided with the City Council in denying that appeal last March. The remaining dilapidated frame of the house was razed last summer.

A new appeal of the building permit was filed in July by South Coast Civic Assn. President Bill Rihn and resident Mark Nelson along with coastal commissioners Dayna Bochco and Brian Brennan. The grounds for appeal are that the approved project does not conform to the Laguna Beach certified local coastal plan and public access policies.

Meehan wants to build a 5,350-square-foot, single-family home on the property, roughly twice the size of the original house. The plan also calls for a 767-square-foot attached garage and a 125-square-foot storage area. The permit currently allows for the retention of the approximately 200-square-foot guesthouse on a bluff overhang and the wooden beach access stairway.

The new appeal contends the guesthouse is not set far enough back from the bluff to comply with code and that the beach access stairway stretches 10 feet onto the public beach.

Since the original objection by preservation groups was denied and the housing structure was subsequently demolished, the owner now argues that the structure on the bluff and access stairway are historic resources that should be preserved, according to the Coastal Commission staff report prepared for the hearing.

The report recommends approval of the project with several new conditions, including submission of revised plans with required structural setbacks of the guesthouse over the bluff, removal of the stairway encroaching on the public beach, and a demonstration that the owner has rights to develop a 3-foot-wide sidewalk fronting the property on Coast Highway.

Opponents contend a 5-foot-wide sidewalk is necessary to maintain pedestrian safety standards and parking integrity. According to Ann Christoph, South Laguna Civic Assn. board member, several residents will attend the Coastal Commission meeting to voice objections to the project.

The commission will meet 9 a.m. Jan. 8 at the Santa Monica Civic Center, 1855 Main St.

Bryce Alderton contributed to this story.