Coastal Commission to decide future of unique cottage on coastal SLO County bluff

The battle isn’t over about whether to save a tiny, 1965 oceanfront cottage in Cambria or replace it with a much larger structure.

Two Cambria residents have appealed to the California Coastal Commission a county permit that would allow the removal of the distinctive 1,170-square foot cottage designed and built by noted designer Warren Leopold and, subsequently, for construction to proceed on a 2,419-square-foot replacement structure.

The Commission will consider the appeals in August, Devon Jackson, a Commission coastal planner, told The Tribune on Monday. Those meetings will be held Aug. 13-15 in Calabasas.

County supervisors voted 4-1 in June to deny similar appeals against the 2675 Sherwood Drive project and Peter and Beata Przybyslawski’s plans for a new, three-bedroom, three-bath home on their shoreline property.

The supervisors’ vote also included removing the property’s current vacation rental zoning clearance because of the close proximity of another vacation rental unit.

Christina Galloway, on behalf of the North Coast Advisory Council, and Cambria resident Jeffrey Lentz opted to continue pursuing their appeals, despite an unusual email Jackson sent to them July 2.

He asked if they’d be willing to pull their objections because staff is recommending that commissioners “find no substantial issue” with the project and, in effect, deny the appeals.

“It is your right to move forward with the appeal process, but we believe there is a very low chance that the commissioners will wish to find substantial issue on a project of this nature,” Jackson wrote.

“As such, I am respectfully requesting that each of you withdraw your appeal so that we can avoid the lengthy and time-consuming process of bringing this project to hearing,” he added.

There are dueling hopes for North Coast property

When the original appeals were filed, their primary emphasis was to minimize environmental impacts, protect the property’s scenic views for the public and help to preserve the community’s character, according to Jeff Kwasny, who chairs the council’s land-use committee.

He said the county’s interpretation of protections for the North Coast shoreline area, as outlined in the item’s agenda listing, “just considered the sand and rock and not the bluff.”

“We have policy … that says otherwise, and includes the bluff and visual resources,” he said.

Property owners Peter and Beata Przybyslawski of Lake Tahoe wanted to use the new, 2,419-square-foot, three-bedroom, three-bath residence they’re planning on the site as a vacation rental, just as they had the existing one-bedroom, one-bath one.

Now according to the county supervisors’ decision, that’s not possible, and it’s not known if the Przybyslawskis will want to continue to pursue their demolition and rebuild plans.

Having a vacation rental there wasn’t their only reason for wanting to put a different house on their oceanfront property that’s about 200 feet from the entrance to the Fiscalini Ranch Preserve, Bill Isaman of San Luis Obispo, their architect and spokesman, told The Tribune in June.

“They love the property and want to live there,” he said.

Kathe Tanner

The Tribune

805-781-7904 (voicemails only)

Kathe Tanner has been writing about the people and places of SLO County’s North Coast since 1981, first as a columnist and then also as a reporter. Her career has included stints as a bakery owner, public relations director, radio host, trail guide and jewelry designer. She has been a resident of Cambria for more than four decades, and if it’s happening in town, Kathe knows about it.