Jockey can't jump over Duarte hurdle
One of the nation's "leading" jockeys can't get a break from Duarte officials, Melissa Pamer reports:
Read more.DUARTE - After being rejected by the city almost a year ago, a proposal to build a hillside home that exceeds neighborhood height limits is scheduled to come back before the City Council tonight.
Plans by Garrett Gomez, one the nation's leading jockeys, to build a two-story home nearly 24 feet tall failed last year to get approval from the Planning Commission and, on appeal, from the City Council.
Gomez and his wife submitted a new proposal last summer for his home on 1 acre in the northernmost part of the city. The plans call for a slightly larger footprint and an overall height that's about 2 feet shorter, but with a taller chimney.
With the support of city staff, the Planning Commission approved the second proposal on Feb. 19. Residents opposed to the plans appealed to the council.
Many of the Gomezes' neighbors in Duarte Mesa, a 1960s-era hillside development of almost 100 single-story and partial two-story homes, are critical of the couple's proposal. About 60 signed a petition against the project and some have lobbied to have the proposal defeated.
Opponents cite the the threat of "mansionization" and say the home would obstruct the views from other properties.
"The concern is that this will set precedence for building two-story homes all over the Mesa," said Gary Barta, a neighbor of the Gomezes on High Mesa Drive.