Erik Holtsmark presented his vision for a memorial wall to replace the existing, often graffiti-covered wall at the end of Marine Street on Jan. 28 at La Jolla Parks and Beaches, Inc.
\nIt was a bit overwhelming for many audience members, one of whom exclaimed, “Disneyland,” reacting to the artist rendering Holtsmark presented.
\n“I know there is going to be emotional opposition to this vision, both from ever-present naysayers, and those who say, \u2018Stop, once they get theirs,\u2019” said Holtsmark, who argued the Beach-Barber Tract “isn\u2019t the same quaint neighborhood it once was.”
\nNoting he grew up in La Jolla, then returned after being gone for some time, Holtsmark continued to build his case. “Eleven of the 20 homes on Marine Street are owned by people who don\u2019t live there,” Holtsmark said adding, “Only four of the 20 houses are still on single lots. The others are two, three, even four lots.”
\nHoltsmark believes it\u2019s time for a spot as well-frequented as Marine Beach to get some upgrades. Being in the construction and building business, he decided to draw up some plans of what his ideal use of the land would be.
\nHis project is called Marine Memorial Mall. It includes three loading spots for cars, a parking spot for emergency vehicles, two fountain pools in the shapes of a heart and a stomach, statues of Neptune, seals, pelicans and other sea life, one waterfall, a large chess and checker board, a wading pool, elevated benches for prime ocean viewing, a handicap elevator ramp, public restrooms, an area for vending machines, an upgraded lifeguard stand and, of course, a safe staircase to the beach.
\nFollowing Holtzmark\u2019s presentation, Jack DeFranco spoke on behalf of the Beach Barber Tract Homeowners Association.
\n“This is an absurd use of a newly enlarged plaza, whose purpose should be to provide added space for visitors walking, cycling and using baby strollers or wheelchairs safely,” countered DeFranco. “Even one table in the plaza would obstruct the right-of-way wasting space blocked by vendors.”
\nAdded DeFranco: “The relationship between La Jolla and the ocean must always be protected. La Jolla\u2019s oceanfront setting is, and will continue to be, the focus of this community.”
\nNoting that “The Barber Tract Homeowners Association has neither asked for, nor was consulted about, the building of a neighborhood park,” DeFranco presented the following list of reasons from concerned citizens opposing Holtsmark\u2019s proposed wall:
\n\u2022 The park does not add value to the neighborhood.
\n\u2022 Money can be better spent on other La Jolla projects.
\n\u2022 There will be an increase in loitering by homeless.
\n\u2022 The house on 7348 Vista Del Mar has a driveway cut permit on Marine Street in the middle of the park.
\n\u2022 A memorial is a better fit where the honoree lives.
\n\u2022 The park does not fit the character of the neighborhood.
\n\u2022 The water features pose safety and health problems and increased maintenance costs to the city.
\n\u2022 The fire lane path is too narrow for emergency vehicles and places responders farther from the beach access.
\n\u2022 The city sewer access would be restricted, or it would have to be moved.
\n\u2022 The beach-side features of the park will not withstand the winter-storm high tides.
\n\u2022 The statues and benches provide a target-rich area for graffiti.
\n\u2022 White Sands trash removal will be hindered because they use the park site as a staging area.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Erik Holtsmark presented his vision for a memorial wall to replace the existing, often graffiti-covered wall at the end of Marine Street on Jan. 28 at La Jolla Parks and Beaches, Inc. It was a bit overwhelming for many audience members, one of whom exclaimed, “Disneyland,” reacting to the artist rendering Holtsmark presented. “I know […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":726,"featured_media":269008,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"11560","_seopress_titles_title":"La Jolla Parks and Beaches hears Marine Street memorial proposal","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11560,11551],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-269007","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-la-jolla-village-news","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/269007","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/726"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=269007"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/269007\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/269008"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=269007"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=269007"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=269007"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}