Watermark Finally

The 50-unit Watermark project (near the roundabout), in the pipeline for over a decade, recently cleared by the California Coastal Commission, is now preparing building plans to be processed for a building permit this month with no additional public input or design review.

After years of public hearings and negotiations with neighbor opposition and resistance from two Council Members (Gaasterland and Druker), we are now at the likely endpoint with 50 rental  units, including 10 affordable, four stories counting a parking podium (they decided against an option of adding even 15 more units).

As we reported last year, a smaller project was proposed for 38 units (for sale units plus at least 7 affordable units) with significant public benefits (including at least 4 affordable projects deeded to city/nonprofit ownership) but it would have required four Council votes. When it became apparent to the builder that Council Members Gaasterland and Druker were in opposition, the developer abandoned the specific plan process, which included significant community input, and resorted to the “By Right” provision of State law that allowed them to bypass local discretionary review, including Design Review Board. It is noteworthy that Gaasterland continued her opposition in a letter to the Coastal Commission.

Ironically, both Gaasterland and Druker later voted for the same level of density for the North Commercial area, but only after voting and campaigning against that upzoning during the election season.

Moral of the story: what is good for politics is not always  good policy for the community.