supported by the La Jolla Development Permit Review Committee<\/a> during its Sept. 16 meeting.\u00a0<\/p>\nAs part of that hearing, resident Jim Mittermiller said he and other residents \u201cwould prefer [that] the city-owned property be a pocket park\u201d instead of being developed for a house, and he expressed concern about the property being \u201cgifted to the developer\u201d as part of the street vacation.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The triangle-shaped lot is overgrown in some areas, and the applicant team from La Jolla\u2019s Island Architects proposes setting aside the tip of the lot near where Cowrie and Soledad avenues split and landscaping it for public use.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe proposal is to do the best of both worlds,\u201d said Haley Duke of Island Architects. <\/p>\n
In addition to development of the house, \u201ca pocket park that is smaller than the full dirt lot would be created\u201d at the applicant\u2019s expense, she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nonetheless, neighbors are hoping a larger portion \u2014 if not the entire lot \u2014 will be dedicated to public use.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Mittermiller also took his concerns and ideas to the La Jolla Parks & Beaches board during its Sept. 30 meeting, generating an hour-long discussion.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He said the \u201conly real level portion\u201d of the street is the city-owned property that would be vacated as part of the development plan.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThis little triangle of land has been sitting there [vacant]\u201d and residents have raised the idea over the past year and a half of making the entire site a park, Mittermiller said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe pocket park would be a place \u2026 that just needs landscape and upkeep,\u201d he said. \u201c[But] once this property is gone [to private development], it\u2019s gone.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He encouraged LJP&B to think about \u201cwhat is in the long-term interest of the La Jolla community at large\u201d and suggested that the boards reviewing this project \u201cget a feel for what the public really wants \u2026 give the public a chance to say \u2018We want a little pocket park\u2019 [or] \u2018We want some benches and a place where people can \u2026 actually sit down and have a conversation.\u2019\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Since there currently are no sidewalks on the street, those looking to chat with their neighbors or other walkers must do so right next to the street, Mittermiller said. The planned project would build a sidewalk.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
LJP&B trustee Diane Kane said La Jolla\u2019s Parks Master Plan suggests the city encourage new park spaces \u201cwhere parks are most needed\u201d and \u201cimprove underused sites and infrastructure \u2026 to create new green space for recreation and gathering space.\u201d It further encourages establishment of pocket parks.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is an opportunity here to add parks to our community, and we shouldn\u2019t be giving it away without a conversation,\u201d Kane said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Trustee Melinda Merryweather agreed, saying \u201cThere are very few of these [properties] left. \u2026 I think [we should say] we at Parks & Beaches would love to take the area and make it a pocket park.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
A motion to request that the public right of way adjoining 1510 Soledad Ave. be considered for conversion to a public pocket park passed unanimously, with the request that it be sent to the La Jolla Community Planning Association and the city as part of future reviews of the project. <\/p>\n
Additionally, the board voted not to support the vacation of the right of way and requested that the project be returned to the DPR Committee for more review and that the applicant consider redesigning the proposal.\u00a0<\/p>\n
When the project was heard at the Community Planning Association\u2019s meeting Oct. 2, a lengthy debate culminated in the formation of a working group to meet with the architects and neighbors to see if a viable solution can be reached.\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/ljl-l-ljcpa-oct.jpg\")
The La Jolla Community Planning Association meets Oct. 2 at the Recreation Center. (Ashley Mackin-Solomon)<\/p>\n
Other people in attendance joined Mittermiller in speaking against the project, some because of concerns about drainage issues, the precedent the project could set and the sufficiency of public noticing for the plan.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But some LJCPA trustees had questions about whether the city has the right to make the space into a park and whether it would maintain it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIn my mind, that puts a big question mark over this whole alternate proposal that this space be turned into a park,\u201d said trustee Brian Will, who also is chairman of the DPR Committee.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In the end, LJCPA voted 9-3, with Island Architects on board, to form the working group and have it report back with a fleshed-out proposal at the next LJCPA meeting on Thursday, Nov. 6. Trustees Will, Kevin Leon and Janette Williams voted no. \u2666<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Cowrie and Soledad avenues are tucked away off the beaten path compared with much of La Jolla, but…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":277488,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5134],"tags":[5229,1582,276,3548,7354,19284,3549,3550,7264,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-277487","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-diego","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-ca","10":"tag-california","11":"tag-la-jolla","12":"tag-la-jolla-light","13":"tag-la-jolla-light-news","14":"tag-san-diego","15":"tag-san-diego-county","16":"tag-sandiego","17":"tag-united-states","18":"tag-united-states-of-america","19":"tag-unitedstates","20":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","21":"tag-us","22":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115316730474714591","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/277487","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=277487"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/277487\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/277488"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=277487"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=277487"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=277487"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1510-Soledad-Ave.jpg\")
A new 4,494-square-foot two-story house with a basement and an attached accessory dwelling unit is proposed for a vacant lot at 1510 Soledad Ave. in La Jolla. (Bing Maps and La Jolla Light)<\/p>\n![\"Images](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/ljl-l-dpr-cowrie.jpg\")
Images show a vacant lot on Soledad Avenue where a new house is proposed (left) and a rendering by Island Architects of the planned house. (Screenshot by Ashley Mackin-Solomon)<\/p>\n