Frequently Asked Questions
Will this be our primary residence?
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Yes
Does the project require rezoning?
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No
What is 217 Vista Marina zoned as?
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In 1927, this lot was zoned for a single family home. Lot 31, Section 10, Track 822 is in the original plot map by Ole Hansen.
Who owns the land?
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Tom and Cynthia Piana are the owners. We originally wanted to build this home for our parents to live in with us, unfortunately, they passed earlier this year. We do have two daughters and our 6 grandchildren that live in the T Street area and we are excited to be able to live life daily with them here.
Are they developers?
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No
What is Graham Properties, LLC?
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Graham is one of our grandchildren and we created an LLC to keep our properties held in for our living trust.
Has the city reviewed or seen your plans?
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Yes. We have a fully vetted approval in concept from the City of San Clemente, as of 2018.
Does it comply with the 25 foot height limit?
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Yes, our home is 100% compliant with the 25 ft maximum height limit as well as all other San Clemente City codes.
How much of the house will be visible from the beach?
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We designed this home with Ole Hansen's original plan for San Clemente 'to be designed with nature' in mind. The architect selected for our project used Frank Lloyd Wright's organic design philosophy for inspiration-- to be sure that our home would look like it belongs within the terrain. The home will be very difficult to see from the beach - perhaps with binoculars you might be able to spot a corner ;)
Does this build prohibit beach access?
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Per the Orange County Transit, the train track bridge was not designed to have pedestrians safely pass underneath.
Where is the closest legal beach access point?
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Just a stone's throw away, the T Street steps at the intersection of Esplande and Paseo de Cristobal, have been designed and confirmed safe for the public use for beach access.
Will this project affect the access through and into the canyon's bottom?​
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No. From the beginning of this project, as you can see in the photo to the left, we've always had a trail planned to continue to give access to the canyon bottom and through the property to the back of the property so the community can access the canyon.
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Is this home being built in a canyon?
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No. The home is canyon adjacent from a lower canyon edge with the proper setbacks.
Will environmentally sensitive habitat be disturbed or harmed?
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No. We will be adding fire safe, California native habitat to the adjacent canyon. No ESHA will be removed and a set back buffer will be assessed.
Is the land able to be built on?
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Yes, lawfully this residentially-zoned lot can have a residential home built on it. That is why our plans have been approved by City of San Clemente, approved by the Coastal Commission staff, and approved by the Orange County Fire Department.
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What percentage of the land zoned as a residential lot are property owners in San Clemente west of the freeway able to use ?
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85%
What percentage of land are the Piana's using?
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25.87% for perimeter area
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12.13% for their home
How to Submit a Letter to Coastal Commission
Directions for submission:
This letter can be sent to SouthCoast@coastal.ca.gov with the subject line "Letter in Favor, Public Comment on October 2023 Agenda Item Thursday 16a - Application 5-18-0930 (Graham Property Management, LLC, San Clemente). They want the letter to be in the body of the email.
Here is the link to Coastal Commission we are Agenda item 16a. There is a Submit Comment link, that will open your email to send it to the SouthCoast email address above.
Sample Letter with Bullet Details of the Project:
Dear Honorable Commissioners,
I am in favor of the project at 217 Vista Marina for Tom and Cynthia Piana.
The Piana’s seek to build a single family home on a single family lot. In addition to enjoying their private property for it’s intended use, they also are graciously installing:
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a fire truck turn around,
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a fire hydrant,
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a public ocean view point,
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a public access trail to the canyon bottom
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improving the current drainage with a modular wetland system to treat run-off
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and are restoring over 17,400sqft of native California vegetation on their lot.
Their project intends to help Trafalgar canyon in ways that will make a positive, significant difference. The home is going to be built as a class A structure for fire protection for the surrounding neighborhood. Beautifully, the Piana’s share the commission’s goal of harmony between people and our native resources.
Thank you for your service to our community. I trust that you will see the benefits and native improvements this project will make for the beaches and community of San Clemente.
Thank you!
A Letter from a Friend of Trafalgar Canyon
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My dream of raising my kids in the same town as their great grandparents and grandparents crumbled on June 14, 2019. My husband and I bought our home in the Lost Winds area of San Clemente with the prospect of four generations of our family coming together. After the hearing, that dream was postponed and tragically transformed due to the loss of my grandma and grandpa this year. As with all periods of struggle there is a blessing hidden beneath; I found mine by diving into the history of our Spanish Village by the Sea.
As an English teacher reading and research come naturally to me; I prefer facts and evidence to prove an opinion over a pathos approach. When my father first started to discuss those opposed to his future home at 217 Vista Marina, I incorrectly assumed their arguments had to have some merit. I couldn’t fathom a person or group of people fighting against a home without a legitimate reason. Sadly, my naivety became abundantly clear the more I researched the lot at 217 Vista Marina, our town’s founder Ole Hanson, and nearly 20 various CDPs for comparable builds.
My research proved my father’s property is an original single family plat designed specifically by our founder Ole Hanson. I found the original Base of Title and Track 822 sale book recorded by Ole Hanson, as well as the Grant Deed to the property sold to Martha E. & Philip B. Fryer notarized on April 21, 1952. This property's zoning predates the commission, and has been designed for a single family home to reside on its land since inception in 1927. Opponents to this project have sent letters, published websites, and slandered this project in the name of saving open space. That audacious fallacy has tainted perspectives and opinions of neighbors who trusted what they heard instead of investigating for the truth. The truth, verified by documented evidence, is that lot 31, section 10, track 822 is zoned for a single family home and has been since 1927. A historic map of our town, Ole’s record book, and a grant deed all provide the irrefutable evidence that this lot is, and has always been, designed for a home.
After researching the lot itself, I expanded my research to learn more about Ole Hanson. I wanted to know what kind of man he was and how he went about designing our Spanish Village by the Sea. To my delight, he was not only a man with vision for building, he was a man with a heart for community. Homer Banks records the character of Ole as best he can in the book The Story of San Clemente. Through it, I learned that Ole was a man with motives that perfectly mirror the purpose of this commission - harmony between the land and the people who enjoy it. When Ole planned the city he purposefully kept the land intact, “The beauty of the natural, rolling contour of the land was not to be scarred by streets slashed ruthlessly through the hills to satisfy the conventional idea of pattern. Man's view of nature was not to be obstructed by promiscuously arranged houses crowding out the light and the view" (4). He didn’t design for ease of travel or to reduce his expense, he designed to protect the coastline, canyons, and land. Furthermore, Ole mapped out the plats for each of the homes to ensure everyone had a view and the beauty of the land was accentuated by the creation of the community, “We will use for our pigments flowers and shrubs and trees and red tile and white plaster. Our streets shall follow the contour of the ground. Our beach shall always be free from hurdy-gurdies and defilement. We believe beauty to be an asset as well as gold and silver or cabbages and potatoes. We may build at San Clemente but one building, we will preserve for all time these hills from the heterogeneous mixture of terrible structures which so often destroy the beauty of cities'" (46 - 47). Based on the character of our founder, I can confidently attest that the property my parent’s purchased in 2017 was intended to be beautified by our coastal landscape and the views naturally displayed by Trafalgar Canyon which is adjacent to their building site. Ole Hanson was a visionary that cared for the coast and the landscape, and his character would not permit him to marr such beauty. My parent’s project carries out his intention for lot 31 of section 10 at track 822. By planting over 17,400sqft of native vegetation, my parents are ensuring the canyon will remain preserved and protected at least so far as their property extends.
Incredibly, the more I researched the more evidence I found to support the approval of my parent’s project based on the values and laws established by the Coastal Commission and city’s LUP. Their property is an original plat, and zoned for a single family home. They plan to use 50% of their private property to plant native vegetation and restore Trafalgar Canyon to its former glory, they plan to prioritize the community by using 18.5% of their private land for a public fire truck turn around, ocean view point, canyon access trail, and they’ll install a fire hydrant to improve the safety. With nearly 70% of their private property being intentionally used for community gain, they are humbly using 31.5% of their private property for its intended use. This made me investigate further. I wanted to compare CDPs that gained approvals in the area to better understand the Coastal Commission’s pattern of practice. I looked into the project at 226 Trafalgar Lane approved by the board in 2000. Their project was also a vacant lot adjacent to Trafalgar Canyon and on Ole Hanson’s original plat map, Lot 7 in the same section. They used 52% of their property for their private residence. A more recent neighboring approval was at 350 Paseo de Cristobal from 2015. At Lot 28 of the same section on Ole’s map, their CDP approved a private residence that would utilize 65% of their property. Finally, the project at 207 Calle Conchita, lot 19 on Ole’s map was also approved in 2018 to use 41% of their private property for their private residence. Each project in the same area was permitted a larger portion of their property for private use and did not have nearly the public benefit as designed by my parent’s application. While frustrating to see all the evidence point towards a pattern of practice by the Commission’s Staff and Board that should have led to an approval in 2019 for my parent’s application, it is back before you now seeking an approval based on the facts within the application.
I implore you to set aside the slander and look at the evidence; there are immense benefits for our coastline, canyon scape, and neighborhood. My parent’s bought this property to build a home for four generations of our family to do life together. Beyond the financial expectation to purchase a single family lot to legally build a single family home on, they have invested their time, labor, and emotions into their dream. I look forward to seeing their home built and our community improved by their decisions, and that all starts with you.