With the exception of some areas on Mt Soledad near I-5, construction and other projects in La Jolla are generally subject to the California Coastal Act. The Coastal Commission generally delegates specification and enforcement of the Act’s requirements to the City of San Diego, which spells them out in its Local Coastal Plan. That includes the land-use provisions in the City’s Municipal Code plus various Community Plans, including the La Jolla Community Plan.
Minor projects and those that satisfy certain specific provisions are reviewed and receive building or other permits through the City’s ministerial Process 1. All other projects require Coastal Development Permits (CDPs), which entail review and discretionary approval under Processes 2-5. Before issuing a CDP the City requires applicants to submit detailed plans, and strongly recommends that applicants seek community review by locally-elected Community Planning Groups to ensure compliance with Community Plans. The Community Planning Group for La Jolla is the La Jolla Community Planning Association.
If the City’s Municipal Code requires a discretionary permit such as a Coastal Development Permit (CDP), Site Development Permit (SDP), Neighborhood Development Permit (NDP), Conditional Use Permit (CUP), or Tentative Map (TM), then the LJCPA is empowered by the City to review the project and offer its recommendation on the project, including the its alignment with the goals, principles, and provisions of the La Jolla Community Plan, the La Jolla Planned District Ordinance, and/or the La Jolla Shores Planned District Ordinance as appropriate. Reviews at both the committee and Trustee levels are done in an open public forum.
Before seeking community review, applicants submit plans and other required materials to the City’s Development Services Department (DSD). Applicants request LJCPA review once
- The required City notice has been posted at the project site,
- The Notice of Application or Notice of Decision has distributed, and
- LJCPA has received the first set of City comments (“Issues Report”).
LJCPA review starts with public presentation to the appropriate LJCPA Committee(s), as outlined in the table below (one can determine what zoning categories apply by looking up the project’s address in the City’s Zoning Validation system (https://apps3.sandiego.gov/siteinfoweb/).
Discussion at Committee meetings can result in requests for additional information and presentation. Once each review committee is satisfied, it votes whether to recommend that the City approve the project.
| Project type | area | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| La Jolla Planned District (zoned LJPD-) | La Jolla Shores Planned District (zoned LJSPD-) | La Jolla non-PD (zoned RS-, RM-,…) | |
| Process 1 permits, such as remodeling or utility upgrades within an existing structure | (no LJCPA review required) | (no LJCPA review required) | (no LJCPA review required) |
| Facade renovation, signs, change of use, sidewalk cafes,… | PDO → LJCPA | (no LJCPA review required) | (no LJCPA review required) |
| Process 2-5 (CDP, NDP, SDP,…) applications, including City projects | PDO → DPR → LJCPA | PRC → LJCPA | DPR → LJCPA |
| Project-related street issues, such as street/ROW vacations | PDO → DPR → T&T → LJCPA | PRC → T&T → LJCPA | DPR → T&T → LJCPA |
| Public street issues including striping, parking, stop signs, street closures, special events, etc. | T&T → LJCPA | T&T → LJCPA | T&T → LJCPA |
- Planned District Ordinance Committee (PDO, meets 2nd Monday each month). This committee reviews facade renovations, signs, change of use, sidewalk cafes within the La Jolla Planned District (that is, those with LJPD- zoning)
- Traffic & Transportation Board (T&T, meets 3rd Wednesday). This committee reviews all public street changes (striping, time-limit parking, stop signs, street vacations, traffic calming, etc.), including street changes associated with development or remodeling projects.
- La Jolla Shores Permit Review Committee (PRC, meets 3rd Thursday). This committee reviews all permit applications (CDP, SDP, TM, etc) in the La Jolla Shores Planned District (LJSPD- zoning).
- Development Permit Review Committee (DPR, meets 2nd and 3rd Tuesday). This committee reviews all permit applications (CDP, SDP, TM, etc) in the rest of La Jolla, plus development or construction projects that have been reviewed by PDO.
Some projects are reviewed by more than one committee/board. In such cases, usually T&T reviews projects before PDO, and PDO reviews before DPR. In all cases committee/board reviews must be complete before LJCPA Trustees consider the project. Committees have a fixed meeting schedule and typically need 1 to 2 weeks advance notice to place a project on the agenda.
Applicants must present all information that is required by the City. Some applicants opt to come as soon as they have the first set of City comments, while others opt to go through 2 or more rounds of city comments before presenting. The choice is the applicant’s. The plans presented for community review must be the same as have been submitted to the city.
PRC and DPR typically require presentation at two meetings, the first informational, the second for decision. Either group can choose to approve a project with only one meeting if the project is non-controversial and fully complies with the city’s regulations and the community plan.
All LJCPA committee, board, and Trustee meetings are open to the public and the committees encourage neighbors and the public to participate in the discussion.
LJCPA and its committees avoid Conditional Approvals; that is, they either “Recommend Approval” or they “Recommend Denial” and provide reasons for the denial.
LJCPA Recommendation
Once a recommendation is issued by the Committee or Board, it is placed on the Consent Agenda of the LJCPA’s next regularly scheduled monthly meeting or, if the project satisfies certain conditions, on the Regular Agenda. The Consent Agenda allows the LJCPA to ratify all the recommendations of its committees in a single vote with no presentation or debate. Anyone attending a meeting may request that a consent item be pulled for reconsideration and full discussion, but only by citing specific provisions in the Municipal Code or Community Plan the committee failed to consider appropriately, or if there is new relevant information that could not have been provided to the committee. Items pulled from the Consent Agenda become full action items at a subsequent LJCPA meeting.
General Advice
Successful projects that move through the LJCPA’s review process in an efficient manner are those that adhere to the following advice:
- follow the regulations under the Municipal Code and the La Jolla Community Plan
- meet with the neighbors early and often to gain their support or at least try to address their concerns, and
- provide clear, complete materials to LJCPA and its committees so that decisions are based on full information.
Some portions of La Jolla continue to be governed by private homeowner’s associations (HOAs). Neither the City nor the LJCPA enforce the Covenants, Conditions & Restrictions (CC&Rs) agreed to by such HOAs; those are enforced as specified in the HOA bylaws or through private litigation.