The University Community Planning Group (UCPG) brought past items back to the table for another look, or one last word, on May 16. Golfers cast new light on Torrey Pines Golf Course and trustees expressed deep frustration over the Hillel hearing. Proposals for a new clubhouse and tournament support building at Torrey Pines Golf Course were shot down by a vote of 8-1. UCPG originally voted in December to approve the clubhouse, before the five-year business plan for the municipal golf courses emerged, and the golfing community vehemently rallied against the clubhouse, which they associated with increased playing fees. The project would permit the city to construct a new $7 million clubhouse closer to the parking lot, which will be reconfigured to include 60 more parking spots, raising project costs to between $13 to $14 million. Consultants hired by the city claim the clubhouse needs to be upgraded and that it doesn’t make economic sense to pour money into an older structure. Audience members stoutly responded that not one golfer is in favor of a new facility.The Century Club would fund the tournament support building, and in return the club would occupy approximately one-third of the space with offices. The building would also provide meeting space for the men’s and women’s golf clubs and junior golf. The Century Club’s mission is to promote San Diego’s annual PGA tour event, the Buick Invitational. Paul Spiegelman, co-founder of the San Diego Municipal Golfers Alliance, sees “private entities gaining access to municipal golf courses for no reason.”The Century Club will pay rent to the city once it moves in, according to Oliver, but Spiegelman said he suspects this will never come to fruition.Golfers insisted that the new buildings are not necessary and are not required by the United States Golfing Association for tournaments. “The U.S. Open will come back based upon how the South Course performs,” one golfer said. Questions were raised about how Mayor Jerry Sanders will negotiate a lease with the Century Club since he has placed a two-month moratorium on all leases.Sanders has pushed the clubhouse onto the back burner until after the 2008 U.S. Open. Permits are going through for the project, though, should the city council later approve it. The May 9 Hillel hearing left an unpleasant aftertaste. Trustees and audience members spoke bitterly about Council President and District 1 City Councilman Scott Peters’ motion for the Hillel project that was pre-written before the stakeholders spoke before City Council on May 9. Peters approved Hillel’s request to build a Jewish student center on Site 653 ” in a single-family residential neighborhood, on a triangular-shaped lot between La Jolla Village Drive, La Jolla Scenic Drive North and La Jolla Scenic Way ” with a pre-fabricated contract that attached 24 conditions.”It’s very apparent that the community planning group has no say and that we’re just used as a machine to vent our opinions,” UCPG President Linda Colley said. All of the La Jolla community groups, plus the UCPG, had recommended against the project. “The councilmember is very prepared when issues come to council,” said Madeleine Baudoin, a representative for Peters.Community members disagreed. “It’s a completely different subject when you go there with your mind made up,” one audience member said. “The councilman should have listened to the public first and not have made up his mind.”In other news:”¢ Roselle Canyon won’t wave goodbye to the sewer lines running through its dirt anytime soon, but officials are still considering the option of partially relocating the pipes. Council policy mandates that sewer lines be pulled from canyons to preserve the environment and grant easier maintenance access, as long as the cost doesn’t exceed more than 35 percent of leaving the pipe where it is. Maintaining the pipe in the canyon over its 75-year life costs the city $16.6 million, whereas pulling it from the open space and burying it in the streets would cost $31.4 million, which is 88 percent greater than the status quo. Partially redirecting half of the 2-mile pipeline would cost $22.8 million, which is only a 37 percent greater cost than maintaining the pipe in the canyon. “That’s only a $6 million difference, which isn’t very much,” UCPG trustee Pat Wilson said. “I hope that you will consider the partial redirection option.” That option is still on the table, reassured wastewater officials, adding that the project is only in the master plan stage. Roselle Canyon runs near Roselle Street, close to where I-5 and I-805 intersect. “¢ UCPG approved language to the community plan to allow for additional fire stations within University City, which is currently only serviced by one fire station on Eastgate Mall. First responders from the station usually arrive at the scene of emergency in eight minutes, which falls below the five-minute national standard, according to community activist Sam Gusman. Once language is included in the community plan, officials can identify specific sites and include the need in the Facilities Benefit Assessment, which taxes developers to contribute to the cost of infrastructure. “¢ In the immigration debate, Congresswoman Susan Davis (D-53) supports enforcing penalties against employers who hire illegal immigrants but opposes penalizing churches, hospitals or charity organizations from assisting illegal immigrants, which she believes is inhumane. Davis also opposes constructing a fence across the border of the U.S., which she faults as not being a long-term solution.UCPG meets the second Tuesday of every month at 6 p.m. in Forum Hall above the Wells Fargo Bank, 4315 La Jolla Village Drive. For more information call Chair Colley, (858) 453-0435, or e-mail [email protected].