The La Jolla Village Merchants Association’s (LJVMA) office lease is running out at the end of the year and the business improvement district (BID) that contracts with the city to promote La Jolla businesses in the downtown Village is looking for new digs. “It has to be highly visible and well-trafficked by people on foot,” said LJVMA board president Phil Coller of requirements for a new office site following the group’s June 13 monthly meeting. Coller said LJVMA’s intent is to combine its existing office in the Crosby Center at 7734 Herschel Ave., Suite G with the existing kiosk-like La Jolla Visitors Center at 7966 Herschel Ave., which is operated in conjunction with the San Diego Convention & Visitors Bureau. The center offers information on local hotels, restaurants and events to community guests. “We want to combine the facilities so there’s good interaction as we’ll be working together a little bit more,” Coller said, noting the current LJVMA Crosby Center site is inadequate because “there’s no foot traffic.” On June 13, the BID also unanimously passed a resolution to allow associate members — those that operate businesses outside the core Village business district — to join the organization for a $350 annual fee. LJVMA board member Tom Brady, however, cautioned that the admittance fee could be overly restrictive for some groups. “For a not-for-profit, which is a valuable resource, that $350 fee might preclude them from wanting to join,” he said. Coller said that issue could be easily mitigated. “There are always exceptions to the rules,” replied Coller. “Everybody has the right to apply. This board has the right to waive the fee for a not-for-profit.” Membership to the LJVMA for associate members will apply to businesses located within the boundaries of the La Jolla Community Plan area, which embraces a large portion of La Jolla outside the core Village BID boundaries, including the neighborhoods of Bird Rock and La Jolla Shores. In response to a question by board member Robert Lane about whether the boundary for membership would lie within the 92037 ZIP code, Coller explained that associate members would be allowed to come from a wider area surrounding La Jolla. “Forget 92037 or the BID community of La Jolla because [associate membership encompasses] an absolutely massive area and it’s well worth it [to extend BID membership],” replied Coller. In other action: • Sherry Ahern gave a report on the upcoming third annual La Jolla Art & Wine Festival, to be held Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 13-14, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. in the Village. Ahern said the setup of the event is designed to get Village merchants the maximum exposure possible. The event’s wine and beer garden will be on Girard at Silverado and the silent auction will be at Wall Street and Girard, with the food court at Silverado Street between Girard and Herschel. “The emphasis is to move the flow of attendees up and down the whole street to make sure all the businesses are visited by attendees of the arts event,” she said. Sponsorship is also available for the event, which is likely to charge a $5 entry fee. • Haute La Jolla Nights, a music, art and shopping promotional event held June 9, was deemed a big success, bringing a large number of guests to spend an evening in the Village on a Saturday night, as intended. The event will be held twice more, on July 21 and again in September. • LJVMA board member Egon Kafka announced there is a need for the community to find funding to pay for periodic tree trimming of palm tree fronds in the Village, a responsibility of the city that has not been followed through because of budget cuts. Falling fronds, Kafka said, are not only an aesthetic nuisance but an actual hazard and liability for passersby on the street. LJVMA meets the second Wednesday of the month from 8:30 to 10 a.m. at the Cuvier Club, 7776 Eads Ave.