(CNN) – Former Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney cleared a final hurdle Friday in building a new house in California, a house that will include a four-car garage with an elevator for the vehicles.
Romney had already gotten zoning permission from the city of San Diego to demolish the 3,100 square foot home he owns in the La Jolla neighborhood and erect an 11,000 square foot mansion in its place. Plans for the home were put on hold until after the 2012 election.
A neighbor had appealed the city's decision to the California Coastal Commission. He argued in commission filings that the new home would have exceeded zoning limits that say square footage cannot exceed a certain calculation based on acreage of the plot of land the house sits on.
The Coastal Commission rejected that appeal Friday. Barring a lawsuit, construction can now move forward, according to commission spokesperson Sarah Christie.
Romney, the multimillionaire former governor of Massachusetts, drew significant heat from his opponents during the 2012 election for his wealth. They charged that Romney's estimated $250 million fortune put him out of touch with average Americans and a car elevator crystallized that message for many.
–CNN's Bryan Koenig and Chuck Johnston contributed to this report.
That God Mittens was able to bribe the right officials. We will all sleep better tonight.
Sickening.
With all my heart, I hope you and Ann enjoy your frequent rides in your car elevator outside of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
Best Wishes,
A California Woman who doesn't care what you do as long as its not in the Oval Office.
No wonder he lost the election. Today the car elevator tomorrow the gold-plated shark tank.
hope it falls into the ocean
Oh, poor, poor Mitt, He had to wait sooooooo long for that elevator.
"They charged that Romney's estimated $250 million fortune put him out of touch with average Americans and a car elevator crystallized that message for many."
I'm no fan of Romney, but you know what I think is even worse? Biased reporting. Like the article above
Elevators for his cars. Hmmm. Too bad there are still so many People in the country without a roof over their heads.
I am just so glad this twit never had a chance!
La Jolla is one of the most expensive neighborhoods in the US. Just perfect for him and Queen Anne with the $1K ugly fish t-shirt.
a man of the people
WoW seriously? I was literally just at the Car Elevator store the other day for my NIssan Rogue. I was torn between the hydraulic or belt driven. In the end I went for the convertible secret pool with underwater sound system and TV. Everyone on the street has one I figured what the heck. I'll do the car elevator next pay cheque.
Thank God these people will never live in The White House!
For all those who say the rich have it easy, this story just goes to show they have struggles just like the rest of us.
This is the first step. Next step is to reclaim exemptions to get his 2011 taxes back under 10%.
Hurray for the rich people!
Yes, there's certainly no place in this country for an over achiever except to be taxed. The 50.4% of the voters made that perfectly clear with the land slide election vote!
A car elevator? How many cars does he have? With a mansion that big, he could still have a 6 car garage! How many does he have that he has to stack them?
Go to hell, Mit.
I think everyone is jealous that they don't have a car elevator...I just have hydralic lifts so I can stack my collection. It turns a 4 car garage into an 8 car garage. Very handy indeed.
Good for him!!! I have nothing agains his being rich or installing a car elevator. If I had the money, I would do it too. =)
I voted for Obama because even if Romney is not a bad person, he would be controlled by the evil republican TEA party.
If the car elevator is anything like Romney, it won't make it all the way to the top.
The Romney's don't understand what all the fuss is about. Forgetting the car elevator, doesn't every American have an 11,000 square foot house and a four car garage?
Only 11,000 sq. ft.? That's barely larger than Al Gore's 10,000 sq. ft. Nashville house. I thought all those Republicans were such resource hogs.
Not a big Romney fan and didn't vote for him. But not sure why this news CNN. The man is out of pubic office right now and is again a private citizen, he is free to do what he wants with his funds. Doubt building a car elevator has anything to do with him being out touch (there were plenty of other reasons for that), plus if his cars are parked below the home, then he will need the elevator to get them back to street level.
Perhaps he could give the American people who are out of work or food due to the government shutdown by calling his republicant colleagues and telling them to raised the debt ceiling and open the United States government.