Letter to Editor: Mr. Liebhardt Is Misinformed!

To the Editor:

Despite his opinion, I have great respect for the volunteers of the LJCPA and the community planning process. I have followed all of the rules and regulations of the La Jolla Shores PDO, Design Manual and Community Plan when I designed my mixed use home in the Shores.

I did not however, count on my next door neighbor, a LJCPA committee member and my former architect, and his wife to deliberately misrepresent my project to our community to protect their view. Nor did I anticipate Trustee Phil Merten of the La Jolla Community Planning Association to present my neighbor’s false images of my future home to; the La Jolla Shores Association, the La Jolla Shores Advisory Board, the City of San Diego Hearing Officer, the City of San Diego Planning Commission and the City Council.

Applicants deserve to be confident the LJCPA Trustees will be impartial and honor the city rules that empower them to make recommendations, including Council Policy 600-24, the Ralph M. Brown Act, Information Bulletin 505 and 602. The applicants should be assured each and every member that sits on the various community planning groups to be themselves in compliance with the community codes that they judge others by.

Mr. Liebhardt has misrepresented the code compliance issues at 2210 Avenida de la Playa as being resolved. This is not true. The removal of off street parking is a violation that will not be ignored or forgiven by Code Enforcement. These violations were deliberate and intentional, not a mistake by the City.

He asked who Michael Stepner is: He was City Architect for the City of San Diego and was employed in the Planning Department for 27 years. He is very active in the community, co-chairs the Canyonlands Committee of San Diego Civic Solutions, and was an originator of the "Onions and Orchids" architectural award program. Mr. Stepner and Ernie Hahn are widely credited with spearheading the rebirth of downtown San Diego and especially its vibrant Gaslamp Quarter. He is the author of the La Jolla Shores PDO.

Protecting and fostering our community planning process begins with compliance, truth and transparency. That’s what I am fighting for!!

Kim Whitney

Member of the La Jolla Association, La Jolla Town Council and La Jolla Community Planning Association