Neighbors get stirred up about Offices at the Pew
by Chris Wilson

At Wednesday's Planning Commission meeting, neighbors who live near the Offices at the Pew, also known as Nordhoff Hall, expressed their unhappiness with the noise and extra parking generated by public events held there.
Michael McFerrin, who owns and restored the historic building, had come before the commission to ask for an indefinite extension on his conditional use permit that would allow him to continue holding public events with up to 100 people on the property. He also asked for and got approval from the commission to host a theater company for 6 weeks per year in the old church. And he asked to bump his capacity to 125 for those events, which he didn't get.
Only Julia Taft-Whitman, who was on hand at the meeting to receive an award for outstanding achievement for her landscaping at the Emerald Iguana Inn, stood to defend the meeting hall.
On request, the commission approved to extend the CUP for 18 months, with a review after one year. Maximum cpacity will be 100. Weekend events must end by 10 p.m.
In other commission news, Mr. and Mrs. Martin Potter got a welcome to Ojai that they may not have been expecting. They'd come before the commission to get recommendations on how they should proceed with some remodeling they'd like to do on their new home on the corner of West Eucalyptus and North Signal.
After consulting with an architectural draftsman, the Potters had come up with a plan that would more than double the square footage of their home, by adding a second story above the garage and the main house and having the two rooms connected by an archway.
"We sure hope you'll approve our variance," Potter told the commission.
Before any of the neighbors shared their concerns, Interim Community Development Doug Hooper was already recommending denial of the request, or at the very least, a redesign of the remodeling project. Simply put, the lot is too small, less than half the size of other normal lots in the neighborhood, and is already termed a "non-conforming" lot.
Several neighbors agreed and told the commission that they were strongly opposed to the project. Ultimately, the commission recommended the Potters consider redesigning their remodel plans to accommodate the lot and be more aesthetically pleasing to the neighbors.

© 2002 The Ojai Valley News

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