PDO wake-up call

Wake up, La Jolla, and, while we’re at it, Scott Peters. Two proposals were thrown in front of the La Jolla Planned District Ordinance (PDO) on Feb. 6 by two La Jolla architects: Mark Lyon and Michael Morton. These proposals would change buildings from two to three stories and also change the FAR (Floor Area Ratio), allowing more density in buildings. The streets are Girard, Prospect, Ivanhoe, Fay, Eads and parts of Pearl and La Jolla Boulevard.

Both of these men are members of the Community Planning Association (CPA), which ultimately votes on the proposals and sends them on the San Diego City Council. Of the 18 members of the CPA, 13 are either architects, developers or Realtors. The President, Yvette Marcum, has scheduled a special meeting for March 23 to discuss these proposals and maybe a vote. No Public Notice has yet been published, and the only notice given was at the last meeting, three minutes before the end, after most people had left. Her reason for this meeting was that Scott Peters wanted these issues heard before the end of the first quarter of the year. A letter sent by him on March 3 and read last night was pointedly supportive of the proposals, but he did indicate that he would grant more time. Other measures dealing with the Bird Rock amendments have been in the “pipeline” since 2004.

At a Public Forum, the evening of March 6, presented by the La Jolla Town Council at La Jolla High’s Parker Auditorium, the public voiced its objections to these proposals unanimously, after hearing reports by a panel consisting of: Matt Awbrey, Community Representative for District 2, Kevin Faulconer; La Jolla Town Council members Orrin Gabsch, Bob Collins, and Sherri Lightner; CPA President Yvette Marcum; and Bird Rock Community Council PDO Joe La Cava. Councilman Scott Peters failed to send a representative, as did Promote La Jolla and a member of the City Staff-Code Monitoring Team, Development Services Department. Also, the two architects did not attend.

Wake up, La Jolla! The community needs to participate in order to have knowledge of the process and the influences that are altering our “Village.” I strongly urge you to contact your councilman, either in writing, by e-mail or by phone, to voice your opinions on these vital issues. We will no longer have our unique village atmosphere. Instead, huge three-story “boxes” will be erected in place of the charming structures we have come to love.

A meeting of the La Jolla Town Council will be held on Thursday, March 9, at 4 p.m. at the Rec Center (615 Prospect St.), across from the Museum of Contemporary Art. I urge you to attend.

Sally Fuller
31-year resident of La Jolla
sallyfuller.com

Major entryway’s appearance ignored

I noticed the article in the March 3 Union-Tribune about the plans for Balboa Avenue, a project comparable to the recent widening of La Jolla Village Drive in La Jolla and parts east.

The article on Balboa Ave states, “Mature oaks, sycamores and Torrey pines will be planted.”

In my neighborhood, indeed directly across from my home, La Jolla Village Drive has been widened. However, our councilmember, Scott Peters, told me at the ribbon-cutting ceremony that the destruction of street trees and of the street right of way along Site 653 bordering the La Jolla Village Drive widening project will not even be discussed until the phantom hearing (when will it be? Six years is not enough time for the city to prepare?) of the proposal of Hillel of San Diego to use what was Designated open space Site 653.

I would like to know why a group (Hillel of San Diego) which currently neither leases the right of way in question nor owns Site 653 and adjacent right of ways, and occupies a home without necessary permits (cited by the City’s Neighborhood Code Compliance) across from them, should be allowed to dominate the completion of a CIP project comparable to the Balboa widening and beautification. La Jolla Village Drive is a major entryway into La Jolla, yet our councilman ignores the concerns of residents of this community while apparently pandering to special interests.

While totally distressed about the actions of our councilmember, I am thrilled that in Councilmember Donna Frye’s district, improvement and restoration of vegetation is at least discussed! And given her track record in following through, Balboa will get her attention ” unlike what has happened in District 1 in the La Jolla Village Drive widening project.

As I mentioned to Mayor Sanders at the La Jolla Village Drive widening, ribbon-cutting ceremony near the pedestrian overpass from UCSD, Hillel should be located in the urban node, mixed-use zone along Villa La Jolla. It should not be located in a family residential area and it should definitely not be allowed, with no standing, to control thousands of square feet of public right of way for a significant CIP project (60,000 vehicles a day) that affects this residential neighborhood, not to mention the millions who pass this way in and out of La Jolla ” once upon a time a jewel.

Penelope Bourk
La Jolla

Care to make a small wager?

I am in support of the seals. I believe it was the spring of 1997 when I saw a little seal pup wander away from its mother and get a little too close to a young boy who should have been berated by his mother when he got too close to the seals. The kid picked up the seal like it was some big joke, or as if the seal was a puppy dog and can be held anytime someone wished. I soon realized that this was a serious matter when the boy put that seal pup back down on the sand. The pup somehow got confused or forgot and started following and calling for the young boy as if he was its mother! He laughed and picked it up again. I wasn’t too mad at the time, but when SeaWorld was called and I realized this little pup may die because of this uneducated kid, I started to think and resent the fact that there wasn’t anyone there to prevent this.

I never did find out what happened to that pup. Flash forward to today 2006. I am now 21, almost 22, and I have been required to do a certain amount of community service. I thought to myself, “How could I contribute to my local community?” I Googled “La Jolla, Non-profit organization” and it spat out ” La Jolla Friends of the Seals. Friends of the Seals? Cool! I soon found out more about this fine organization and knew on the spot that this is what I needed to do.

I remember being a child and playing in that Children’s Pool Beach ” I had fun, yes. But I would much rather have the seals around and make sure they are safe, especially when I realized there are some people in this local community that don’t realize how much joy these guys bring to our kids. They say, “But it’s our children’s beach! It’s our right!” Well, I would put money down and say that if you asked 100 kids what they would rather do, I think the majority if not all would gladly side with the seals and say they would want to watch them in this fine rookery.

I still remember my first day of volunteering, where I became acquainted with the “usual harassers.” They came down to the beach to make a point and flush the seals out. How selfish and silly I thought it was. They say it’s their children’s beach, when they don’t even bring their children to the water.

This problem has two solutions. I am glad to say that we are working on both. I also work for rake-a-line and they actually look out for and protect the seals from harassers. That’s one solution. The other is La Jolla Friends of the Seals and I work with them too. They are important because they educate the tourists that come in from all over the world to see this “natural miracle.” But more importantly to me, I have a chance to educate kids like the little boy who picked up that seal back in ’97 and make sure that the seal legacy lives on for my children someday.

Aziz Zakkout
La Jolla

What do the children say?

Perhaps it is time to pay attention to the spirit of Ellen Browning Scripps’s 1931 gift of a breakwater so that the children of La Jolla could have a beach where they might swim in relative safety.

Surely Mrs. Scripps was motivated by a desire to give joy to children. So why not ask the children what would give them the most joy: yet another place where a few of them might occasionally swim, or their own magical Children’s Seal Sanctuary, which gives pleasure to themselves and to thousands of children from around the world?

I would suggest that someone please ask the children of La Jolla what they would like done with their Children’s Pool.

Sally M. Gall
La Jolla

Council should bow

It is unfortunate that a few people are allowed to harass the harbor seals at Casa Beach/Children’s Pool in La Jolla. Their attempts to drive the seals away are futile and displease the hundreds of adults and their children from all over the world who have come to La Jolla specifically to see this wonderful group of marine mammals.

I would encourage the San Diego City Council to bow to the wishes of the majority of citizens in San Diego and reinstate a barrier to protect the seals and their pups.

Judith Lawrence
San Diego

Cookies provide sweet benefits

Thank you for purchasing cookies when a Girl Scout rings your doorbell or greets you at a store. Your support helps that girl, her troop, and nearly 30,000 other local Girl Scouts to fund their community service projects, activities and events.

The Girl Scout Cookie Program is the nation’s premier entrepreneurship program. As girls participate in this annual activity, they learn firsthand about teamwork, customer service, business ethics, marketing and money management. Girl Scouts develop confidence and invaluable life skills they’ll use all their lives.

Every penny of proceeds from the local cookie program stays in San Diego and Imperial counties to benefit local girls. In addition to funding troop activities, these proceeds help supply program resources, special events, volunteer training, and financial assistance for our Girl Scouts.

It’s not too late to purchase your Thin Mints and Samoas “¦ the cookie program runs until March 19. To request that a Girl Scout troop in your own community contact you, just call (877) 296-MINT or e-mail [email protected]. And thank you for assisting our local Girl Scout council to help Girls Grow Strong!

Marla Blom
President, Girl Scouts, San Diego-Imperial Council