Measure would limit height of 272 homes in San Clemente's Shorecliffs neighborhood
Residents are pitted against one another over whether one-story hillside homes can grow to two levels, potentially blocking neighbors' ocean views.
Carol Evans remembers watching the sun sink into the ocean from her San Clemente sun room.
"You could see the palm trees, beautiful oranges and golds. . . . It was gorgeous," she said.
Until the neighbors added a second story. Now, most of her ocean vista is obscured by a house. Sometimes, she said, she can glimpse the water through their open doors.
Because Shorecliffs neighborhood guidelines -- rules that in some communities would provide clear-cut, binding building rules -- aren't legally enforceable, there wasn't much the 67-year-old retired school counselor could do.
Residents of Evans' community overlooking the Pacific are pitted against one another this election season, bitterly disputing whether one-story hillside homes can grow to two levels, potentially blocking neighbors' ocean views.
In a few instances, the row has escalated to vandalism. One homeowner reported rotting raccoon parts and human feces spread across his yard.
After years of legal wrangling, voters across the sleepy surf town Tuesday will determine the future of development in the aging, 505-home Shorecliffs community.
If residents pass Measure I, 272 Shorecliffs' homes -- many with sea views -- will be restricted to a maximum height of 16 feet, said City Planner George Buell. The other 233, mostly on the perimeter of the neighborhood, could be as high as 25 feet, the common height limit for single-family residences throughout the city.
Second-story advocates describe the conflict as a fight to preserve property rights. Opponents argue that overbuilding would alter the character of the 1960s-era terraced community. To determine which homes would be subject to the height limit, city officials inspected all the lots and evaluated their views, Buell said.
A "yes" vote on Measure I also would relax some development standards so homeowners could still expand their homes with additions that don't exceed the height limit; 19 of the homes subject to the height limit could potentially grow to more than 16 feet if owners prove that they won't block ocean scenery.
The issue has simmered for years, triggering lawsuits, City Council actions, surveys and petition drives. In July 2006, the council adopted an ordinance limiting more than half of Shorecliffs homes to one story; a month later, opponents of the restriction gathered enough signatures to force a citywide vote.
