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FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2014
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LJTODAY.COM | VOLUME 18, NUMBER 15
Village's public right-of-way is target of cleanup effort amid city code enforcement By DAVE SCHWAB
YOU DON'T SEE THIS EVERY DAY If you live in San Diego, you almost never see it from end to end. But on the heels of intense heat and humidity, Tuesday's erratic weather spawned a pretty healthy rainbow in the Bird Rock area, its welcome presence underscored by a mosaic of droplets. San Diego's uncomfortable highs were expected to return to the seasonal average this weekend, although more humidity remains a threat. PHOTO BY SHARON HINCKLEY
Fundraising campaign introduced at LJVMA's board meeting, with beautification of the Village in mind By DAVE SCHWAB Plans are in the works to polish the Jewel. As a highlight of La Jolla Village Merchants Association’s (LJVMA’s) Sept. 10 meeting, board member and bookstore owner Nancy Warwick introduced a new, community-based fundraising campaign offering incentives for merchants to clean sidewalks and beautify the Village. Warwick said the Business Improvement District’s (BID’s) design division came up with the plan to spruce up La Jolla's downtown. “We’ve been thinking of ways to raise money to clean up the sidewalks in the Village, and we’ve come up with a fundraising campaign, Sparkle and Shine, that would allow participating businesses to have their names placed on banners,” said Warwick. Warwick said those contributing to the fundraising campaign will have their names placed on three promotional banners LJVMA will raise around town, possibly including one on Torrey Pines Road, where upward of 35,000 vehicles travel daily. “It (the campaign) would be something for the community to be proud of and recognize merchants for doing something very generous — and very needed,” Warwick said. “Once cleanup is done throughout the Village, leftover money
could be used to do trash cleanup, maybe add a few extra trash cans and some small landscaping,” said LJVMA executive director Sheila Fortune. The Sparkle & Shine campaign will be conducted from December to March of 2015, allowing merchants and residents to purchase eight-foot-tall banners with their names on them at a cost of $400 a month to be strategically placed throughout the community. Tax-deductible, cleanup-campaign contributions will be deposited in an account with the nonprofit La Jolla Town Foundation. Those funds will be used only for cleaning La Jolla Village. “This isn’t just about the businesses; it’s for everybody,” said Warwick about the cleanup campaign’s purpose and impact on La Jolla. For more information, call (858) 454-5718 or email info@lajollabythesea.com. At its September meeting, the Business Improvement District (BID), representing about 1,400 merchants in the 30-block area of La Jolla’s downtown Village, also dismissed concerns expressed during the group’s August meeting that exploring revenue-generating alternatives would rekindle community debate over paid parking. “We’re not bringing up parking the subject was not even on the
SEE MERCHANTS >> PG. 2
With the aid of the city and code enforcement, coastal communities like La Jolla are cleaning up their acts, eliminating illegal signage and intrusions into the public right-of-way (PROW). “We want to make this an educational process, not a shaming of business owners,” said Sheila Fortune, executive director of the La Jolla Village Merchants Association (LJVM), a business improvement district (BID). Through the public right-of-way enhancement program, merchants with ground-level storefronts in the city’s 12 BIDs are able to use the sidewalks in front of their businesses to place A-frame signs, limited displays of merchandise and outdoor cafés without railings. The PROW program is designed to provide a lively experience for pedestrians and diners and give merchants more leeway to expand their businesses, enhancing profit. But there are rules to be followed by merchants and guidelines to be met. “The San Diego Municipal Code prohibits unpermitted encroachments in the public right-of-way including, but not limited to: portable A-frame signs, certain
Merchants set elections, mixer as 16 candidates issue statements La Jolla Village Merchants Association, the nonprofit group that creates economic development policies and programs to enhance business in La Jolla, will hold its board of directors elections Wednesday, Oct. 8, with 16 candidates contending for 10 positions. Voting is open to all merchants in the Village business improvement district possessing a current business-tax certificate. About 1,400 businesses are members of the association. Voting is set for 8:30 a.m. at the Cuvier Club, 7776 Eads Ave. Results will be made public directly after the meeting. On Tuesday, Sept. 30, the association will host a “Meet the Candidates” gathering from 5 to 7 p.m. at We Olive, 1158 Prospect St. Light appetizers and tea will be offered, with a cash bar for beer and wine. See the La Jolla Village News link at sdnews.com and navigate to the News section for each candidate's name, business affiliation and statement.
types of outdoor display items, umbrellas and other impediments in the PROW,” said Mike Richmond, deputy director of the code enforcement division for the city is Development Services Department. Richmond noted BIDs like La Jolla’s have a “certain amount of flexibility” in allowing changes related to PROW enhancement. And the city’s there to make sure PROW program standards are instituted and maintained. “The Code Enforcement Division of the Development Services Department conducts investigations and enforcement of PROW encroachments on a complaint basis,” said Richmond. “This includes business locations outside of the BID boundaries or locations within BID areas where the BID has not been able to get voluntary compliance through their required notification process,” he said. Once a code violation is identified by the division investigator, an administrative citation warning is issued that describes the required compliance requirements and time deadline, Richmond said. “If compliance is not achieved by that deadline,” he added, “an administrative citation with a monetary fine is issued. These citations may be appealed by the responsible party, which requires an administrative hearing before an independent administrative
A cluster of signs underscores the intrusions onto the Village's right-of-way and the effort to remedy it. COURTESY PHOTO
hearing officer. A large percentage of cases involving PROW encroachments get resolved by this level of administrative remedy.” Erin Demorest. from District 1 City Councilwoman Sherri Lightner’s office, said “some businesses on one block in the Village were recently visited by a land development investigator who issued warnings about sign violations. No citations were issued. There has been no ongoing ‘sweep.’ However, neighborhood code regularly receives and investigates
SEE LA JOLLA >> PG. 8
USS LA JOLLA HOME SAFELY Attack submarine USS La Jolla, the neighborhood's military namesake, returned to Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam on Sept. 3 following its final regularly scheduled deployment before it is decommissioned later this year. The 360-foot submarine was under way for 150 days of a 180-day deployment and traveled 35,000 nautical miles, conducting port visits in Japan, Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia, with Commanding Officer Cmdr. Kevin Roach praising the crew's efforts during the deployment to the Western Pacific. The USS La Jolla is due for conversion to a training to be permanently moored at Charleston, S.C. PHOTO BY DON BALCH