Two views of a view

A state appellate court recently sided with two separate City Council design review decisions in which the main issue was how construction affected the view of neighbors.

The 4th District Court of Appeal in Santa Ana ruled June 9 that the council acted properly in denying a permit to Kam Fong Yee to tear down two oceanfront, one-story duplexes on Cliff Drive and replace them with a larger, two-story building.

Just eight days earlier, the court ruled in favor of the council’s decision to approve a single-family residence on an oceanfront bluff at Abalone Point in the gated community of Irvine Cove.

“Issues of view, which are an appropriate consideration in design review, were involved in both cases, one of which the council denied and the other which it approved,” City Attorney Philip Kohn said.

“The difference between the two cases was that the Loder project impacted a few private views in a gated community, but in the Yee case the court found that a significant number of both private and public views were impacted,” Kohn said.

Cliff Drive property owner Yee has a long history of rebuffs for his proposal to construct a two-story building on the highest elevation on the street.

The project was ultimately denied on the basis of adverse mass, bulk and view impacts. Yee took the city to court, claiming the council deprived him of a fair hearing and its decision was not supported by substantial evidence, resulting in violations of his constitutional rights, including due process and equal protection under the law.

Orange County Superior Court Judge Mary Fingal Erickson rejected Yee’s contentions, a decision upheld by the June 9 unanimous appellate court ruling that the property owner’s case had no merit.

The court held that the city provided Yee with a fair hearing process, and that there was ample evidence to support the City Council’s decision, including testimony from several neighbors.

According to the court, Yee’s proposed building would have radically impaired the ocean views enjoyed by many of his neighbors as well as the public.

Obstructed views were also an issue in the lawsuit filed against the city by a coalition of Irvine Cove neighbors opposed to the proposed construction of a 20,000-square-foot home on a one-acre oceanfront lot on Abalone Point, owned by Ron and Yolanda Loder.

Opponents of the Loder project contended that the size of the home would significantly affect the coastal environment and should be subject to environmental review.

On May 30, the appellate court upheld the city’s position that single-family homes are exempted under the California Environmental Quality Act.

Orange County Superior Court Judge Jonathan Cannon ruled the city did not violate California Environmental Quality Act requirements and his decision was unanimously upheld by the appellate court.

The Loder lot is part of a two-acre property originally owned by Joan Irvine Smith, for whose family the cove is named. The home they propose to build was approved by the City Council after two rejections by the Design Review Board and modifications.

Efforts to reach Paul Singarella, attorney for the neighbors, and neighbor Stephen Manolakas, one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, were unsuccessful.