Girard to dip no more? James Alcorn of Alcorn & Benton Architects reintroduced the Prospect Belvedere Restructure plan, also dubbed the “Girard Dip” — a proposal to restructure the confluence of Prospect Street and Girard Avenue. The LJTC put together a recommendation called the “Downtown Master Plan” 22 years ago, which included a proposal for the restructuring of the steep dive at the intersection of Girard Avenue and Prospect Street. The proposal later became a part of the La Jolla Community Plan, as well as the updated community plan in 2004, said Alcorn. Under present circumstances, Prospect Street dips seaward just before meeting up with lower Girard Avenue. “The idea here is to make a through motion along Prospect and lower Girard, becoming a ‘T’,” he said. The project, as conceptualized, would also include a pedestrian promenade along Prospect Street from Herschel to Girard Avenues, relocate 15 parking spots and create an overlook over Scripps Park and the Pacific. “The idea of having a center of La Jolla is something that both the merchant’s association seems to be enthusiastic over [and] you all [Town Council] approved it 22 years ago,” Alcorn said. “I just wanted to make sure that there’s nothing in the woodwork that I’m overlooking.” Alcorn and his associates hope to find a private sponsor or sponsors to fund the project. Although a full analysis and further drawings are required before getting an exact cost estimate, “it’s not a great amount of money in today’s standards,” he said. At the LJTC’s meeting on Feb. 9, trustees voted in favor of the Prospect-Belvedere pedestrian promenade project and assigned a liaison, trustee Mike Dershowitz, to submit ongoing reports to the Town Council regarding the project’s progress. The laws, they are a changin’ Trustees will vote on amendments to the LJTC bylaws at the March 1 meeting. Trustee Peter Wulff, chair of the Bylaws Committee, emphasized two important points regarding the proposed bylaw changes. First, trustees must consider whether or not to change term limit allowances from six to nine years. Currently, trustees are termed out at six years, but they can return after a one-year absence if they are elected again. Second, trustees must determine whether to adopt bylaw or code of ethics changes based on a majority vote — which is the current voting procedure — or by two-thirds vote. “There really hasn’t been much change to our bylaws in the last 60 years, so this is something that really needs to get done for the future of our organization,” said LJTC President Rick Wildman. Fireworks in the works District 1 City Councilwoman Sherri Lightner is working with the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce to change the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) to exempt special events that are less than 48 hours from having to undergo environmental review, announced Lightner’s representative Erin Demorest. “It’s so important for the entire city of San Diego — and to La Jolla in particular — to be able to have exemptions for special events where you don’t have to go through this onerous environmental review because that would add thousands of dollars to the cost of your event and months to your permitting process,” Demorest said. “The La Jolla Fireworks Show and a lot of special events that are near and dear to us are at stake, so we want to do everything we can to try to preserve those.” For more information or to get involved, visit www.saveourevents.org. Food trucks may get the grade County Supervisor Ron Roberts is working with the county Department of Environmental Health to determine the feasibility of giving letter grades for food trucks. “With gourmet food trucks’ growing popularity, it concerns the supervisor that patients cannot confirm the safety of the food just as they can at a brick-and-mortar restaurant,” said Roberts’ representative, Portland Bates. “The county does not track food truck and food-cart inspections electronically as it does with restaurants. Only paper forms are used instead, so there is no handy way to identify whether the vehicles are carrying food safety standards. The letter-grade system will assist in this process.” Bates said the county’s Department of Environmental Health regularly inspects more than 1,100 food trucks and coffee carts to ensure that food is stored at proper temperatures, there are adequate hand washing facilities on site and other services are properly sanitized. “The goal is to help the public distinguish legal trucks and those which are operating illegally,” Bates said. “In these tough economic times, the last thing we want to do is stifle business, especially business growth, so we’re going to make sure we keep costs as low as possible in doing this.” Also, for those who missed it, Roberts’ full State of the County Address can be seen at www.sdcounty.ca.gov. Post office gets LJTC’s vote LJTC trustees voted unanimously to support all community efforts to preserve the post office on Wall Street. The Save the La Jolla Post Office Community Task Force has come up with a three-part plan to keep the Wall Street post office intact at its current location and preserve the mural inside. Save the La Jolla Post Office meets every Friday afternoon at the La Jolla Historical Society. For more information, email [email protected]. Around town • The La Jolla Traffic & Transportation committee approved the ITU World Triathlon street closures on May 11 and 12 and voted to reject any request for valet parking until the committee has drafted a valet master plan, announced LJTC Vice President Rob Hildt. • The La Jolla Planned District Ordinance Committee voted unanimously to approve signage for Bird Rock Fine Wine and the Rush Indoor Cycle Studio in Bird Rock, announced LJTC trustee Mike Dershowitz. • Independent La Jolla filed to become a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, announced Independent La Jolla president Cindy Greatrex. • The next Sunsetter event will take place at the Steakhouse at Azul, 1250 Prospect St., on Feb. 16 from 5 to 7 p.m. This month’s community happy hour will host special guest sommelier “Will the Wine Guy,” who will be pouring wine for guests at the event. The cost of attendance is just $5 for members, $10 for nonmembers or free for new members who sign up and pay dues at the event. • Warwick’s recently signed on to offer a discount for the “Shop Local, Shop La Jolla” reward card program, making it one of more than 30 local businesses to offer a discount for LJTC members. 2nd Vice President John Weinstein urged members and trustees to participate in expanding the program by talking to their neighbors and local businesses about LJTC membership and the one-of-a-kind deals and discounts offered by the “Shop Local, Shop La Jolla” program. Membership cards are available at LJTC meetings, SunSetter happy hours and at the LJTC office, located at 7734 Herschel Ave. For pick-ups from the office, please call for availability. For a full listing of discounts offered or to sign up to become a LJTC member, visit www.lajollatowncouncil.org.