Second-Story Additions in Point Loma

One peninsula, many neighborhoods

The Peninsula Community Plan, adopted May 6, 1997, lists Ocean Beach Highlands, Point Loma Highlands, Loma Alta, Loma Palisades, Loma Portal, Fleetridge, Roseville, Sunset Cliffs, the Wooded Area, La Playa and Liberty Station. Roseville is the oldest settled part. Loma Portal, between Rosecrans and Chatsworth north of Nimitz, sits under the airport's takeoff path. Sunset Cliffs runs along the ocean bluffs. La Playa holds some of the most expensive homes in the city, a few with private piers, and Old La Playa is California Historical Landmark #61, also designated by the City's Historical Resources Board in 1970.

Those differences matter more than the name on the map. An addition in Loma Portal is mostly an airport and height question. One on Sunset Cliffs Boulevard is a bluff and coastal permit question. The Peninsula Community Planning Board is the community's advisory group, and it weighs in on projects that need a discretionary permit, like the example below.

Prop D: the 30 ft rule

Prop D passed in 1972. It is now SDMC §132.0505, and the text is short: no building or addition to a building in the Coastal Zone may be constructed above thirty feet. Height is measured under the 1970 Uniform Building Code.

The measuring method is not academic in Point Loma. A 2013 Development Services bulletin on how to measure height led to a 2014–2016 dispute over Point Loma homes that came out over 30 ft, with work stopped on projects at Emerson and Evergreen streets. The lesson for an addition: get the height modeled from surveyed grades at the design stage, before the framing goes up.

When a Coastal Development Permit is required

Improvements to an existing house are generally exempt from a Coastal Development Permit under SDMC §126.0704. The exemption is lost in a few situations that come up often on the peninsula:

• Within 50 ft of a coastal bluff edge, or on a beach, wetland or other listed resource. This is the Sunset Cliffs case.
• An increase of 10% or more in interior floor area, or a height increase over 10%, where the house is between the sea and the first public road that parallels it, or within 300 ft of the inland edge of a beach.
• Demolishing 50% or more of the exterior walls. A second story that ends up stripping most of the original walls can cross this line.

How much time does a full permit add? A 2018 10News story from Bird Rock, in La Jolla rather than Point Loma, quoted a full Coastal Development Permit as adding about a year and roughly $100,000. The developer there kept half the walls and added under 10% to stay exempt, and the neighbors objected. Treat that as one reported example, not a price list. The point stands, though: where your design lands relative to those thresholds can change the schedule more than any construction choice.

A real Point Loma permit file

A 2025 Hearing Officer report for 741 Sunset Cliffs Boulevard shows how many layers one lot can carry. The parcel is zoned RS-1-7 on about a quarter acre, with a maximum floor area ratio of 0.54. Its overlays were the Coastal Overlay (appealable area), the Coastal Height Limit, the Parking Impact Overlay for beach and coastal areas, the Airport Land Use Compatibility Overlay, and Airport Influence Area Review Area 2 for both San Diego International and NAS North Island. The project needed a Process Three Coastal Development Permit, decided by a Hearing Officer, and the Peninsula Community Planning Board voted 13-0-0 to recommend approval. The house was shown at 2,339 sq ft and 23 ft tall.

What this means for your addition

What it costs on the peninsula

A 500 sq ft partial second story comes to about $382k–$500k all-in on this site's planning numbers, which include design, City fees and contingency. Partial second stories run about $400, $525 and $700+ per sq ft for construction alone, more than a full second story per foot because the stair, beams and roof tie-in are spread over less area. A Coastal Development Permit, if your lot needs one, is extra time and cost on top. Try your own numbers in the cost calculator, or see whether building over the garage keeps the project smaller.