RSF Association board grants extension for new pharmacy building

Plans have been in the works for several years for a new and expanded home for the Rancho Santa Fe Pharmacy. The pharmacy, owned by Jason Sabouri, will move across the street into a new village building on the vacant lot on the corner of El Tordo and La Granada, next to Third Bloom.

The project was approved by the Rancho Santa Fe Association back in 2017 and Sabouri said he had secured several permits from the county but some of the older ones had expired: “COVID really impacted us and delayed us with the county,” he said.

At the Aug. 5 RSF Association board meeting, the board granted an extension on the project’s approval through 2023. Sabouri thanked the RSF Association’s Building Commissioner Maryam Babaki for her assistance as he works to get everything back on line—he expects to start construction before the end of the year.

“I’m committed to this project, I’m going to build this thing over my dead body,” Sabouri said. “I’m just excited for my new home and to service this community and give it a building that meets the level of the other architecture in this village.”

The new 4,466-square-foot building will be constructed in the Lilian Rice-style, featuring a shaded arcade, tiled alcoves and, uniquely, 12 rooftop parking spaces. The Association board approved a variance for the project due to the absence of a provision for rooftop parking in the RSF Association Regulatory Code. The code does not prohibit rooftop parking but it does not consider it, so the Art Jury allowed for a deviation from the code.

While not visible from the street, the rooftop parking will be screened and access will be blocked after 6 p.m. when the pharmacy closes.