Cleaner sidewalks and stop sign requests were the main topics at last month’s Pacific Beach Planning Group meeting. Group chair John Shannon said he’s tired of seeing old, chewed-up gum smashed into the sidewalks and would like to see Pacific Beach implement more power washing in the community. A couple years ago, Discover Pacific Beach proposed a plan for setting up a maintenance assessment district in which property owners of Pacific Beach businesses would join together and charge themselves a fee that would pay for services such as more frequent trash collection, cleaner sidewalks, street improvements and off-duty police officers patrolling along Garnet Avenue and Mission Boulevard. That proposal was rejected but a similar idea is being revisited. Discover Pacific Beach President Mike McNeil said in a phone interview that while some Pacific Beach businesses do partake in power washing on a pretty regular basis, he would like to see more done. “We’re trying to get different things done so we can get revenues to do more cleaning around Pacific Beach,” McNeil said. “That’s one of our biggest goals, to not only promote the businesses and promote the community but to get some sort of a recurring revenue source for cleaning, which we definitely need.” Planning group member Marcie Beckett said it’s something she feels everybody would love to see happen and that the group would push for it if it comes back to them. “If they can get the businesses to fund it, great,” Beckett said. “The businesses that have the most negative impacts ought to put in the most funds.” Another topic discussed at the meeting was a request for stop signs at three different intersections. Group member Jim Morrison requested turning the intersection at Reed Avenue and Noyes Street into a four-way stop sign intersection, which would mean putting two stop signs on Noyes St. Pacific Beach resident John Downes (who was not present at the meeting) placed a request for stop signs at Missouri Street and Haines Street, explaining in the agenda that there are no stop signs between Fanuel Street and Ingraham streets, which causes a thoroughfare and excessive speeds on Missouri. And Pacific Beach resident Mike Richardson requested a stop sign on Haines Street and Thomas Avenue, citing speeding, a blind corner and fatalities as the reasons behind his request. One of the fatalities mentioned was the death of cab driver Zeki Mohammed Tovi who was struck and killed at that intersection by a drunk driver on March 25, 2006. The group was not able to take any action on the stop sign requests, however, as none of them were accompanied by a report from the city’s engineering and capital projects department, which is required in order to move forward. Beckett said that in requests like these the engineering department usually issues a report stating the number of points the intersection has. Those points are based on information such as how much traffic and how many accidents occur at the site, and an intersection has to meet a certain number of points in order to merit a stop sign. Beckett added that the group has never had any issues obtaining these kinds of reports before and that the group hopes to get the reports and bring this issue back at the next meeting. “Everybody knows we need a comprehensive solution to the traffic and speeding issues throughout the community,” Beckett said. “But that takes money, and the city has no money, so people are just finding piecemeal solutions.” Also at the meeting, Pacific Beach resident Barbara Williams was elected to serve on the board again after a three-month absence. Williams had served on the group for about three years before her term ran out in March and she didn’t run for reelection. But when a vacancy opened up recently, she jumped at the chance to serve again. “I enjoyed being a part of the PBPG,” Williams said. “It keeps me well informed of issues affecting my community.” Beckett said there are still three residential vacancies and one commercial vacancy in the group if any community members are interested in volunteering. For application forms visit pbplanning.org. The next Pacific Beach Planning Group meeting will take place at 6:30 p.m. on July 28 at the Earl and Birdie Taylor Library at 4275 Cass St.