An eight-year-long battle between the Point Loma Association and a former motel owner over the presence of a billboard on the corner of Rosecrans and Garrison finally ended with the signpost being taken down on Aug. 24. “It was a Long haul on accomplishing this goal,” said Realtor and former PLA president Robert Tripp Jackson, who spearheaded the drive to have the billboard removed. “It was much harder than the other billboards removed during the past 50 years.” 
Eliminating unsightly billboards in Point Loma Village has long been a PLA priority. Jackson said a deal was worked out for the billboard to come down after three years of negotiations on the site where the new Portuguese-themed Monsaraz Hotel is being constructed.
The old Dolphin Motel’s four existing buildings were demolished earlier this year. They will be replaced by a new 49,150-square-foot, 92-unit, three-story hotel. The new structure is being constructed over a basement garage on the 0.57-acre site at 2912 Garrison St.