The owners of an 18,000-square-foot office building at 484 Prospect St., just down the street from the Museum of Contemporary Art, want to convert the building into a 56-bed residential care facility. Trustees at the La Jolla Community Planning Association (LJCPA) wanted more information before taking a vote on the project at the Jan. 7 meeting, and asked the operator to return for the February meeting. The office building originally housed nurses for the old Scripps Hospital, which has since been converted into condominiums next door at 464 Prospect St. Trustees questioned the property owner’s claims that the building’s 33 parking spaces would be sufficient for the employees, residents and visitors for the new facility. (The office building shares a parking garage with the condominiums.) Plus, trustees questioned the frequency of ambulance trips to the facility, which does not offer medical care to its residents. Only one tenant with 12 employees occupies the underutilized building, which has been on the market for several years. In other business: Parking spots reappear Parking spaces continue to open up in La Jolla since a few active residents recognized that some curbs were no longer being used as loading zones or 15-minute parking spots. The city returned 12 parking spaces to general parking in November on Fay and Herschel avenues, and by February plans to return another 50 parking spots to the public along Prospect Street, Coast Boulevard, Cave Street, Ivanhoe Avenue, Girard Avenue and Genter Street. “It’s an opportunity to create more parking at the cost of paint so we’re pretty excited about that,” said Joe La Cava, president of LJCPA. “It’s better than building a parking garage.” Trustees deny retaining walls Trustees voted 9-1 to deny an applicant’s request to build two retaining walls on a backyard slope that runs to the beach in the 8000 block of El Paseo Grande. The homeowner wanted to extend the deck and create a play area using the retaining walls. “The trustees’ feelings were that the retaining walls would be too bulky and too imposing for people who would use the beach recreationally,” La Cava said. Task force reviews wireless issues The city has formed a “Wireless Task Force” to review the city’s ordinances, policies and guidelines for cell towers in the city. “Nobody is very happy with the current regulations. The industry, city and residents have problems with it,” said La Cava, who will chair the task force. “This is an effort to come together to identify what each individual problem is and to see if we can come to a resolution.” About 2,000 cell towers exist in the city. The proliferation of cell towers in La Jolla is the community’s main concern, La Cava said. The task force is comprised of a resident from each council district and eight people from the wireless industry. The group held its first meeting Jan. 13, at which it discussed the federal limitations on local regulation as well as the city’s current policies and regulations. “Based on regulations set forth in the Telecommunications Act of 1996, the City is not permitted to evaluate applications based on health-related concerns. However, prior to issuance of a building permit, wireless carriers are required to submit a report demonstrating compliance with FCC regulations,” states the city’s Website on cell towers. For more information about cell towers in San Diego, and to see the Wireless Task Force agenda, visit www.sandiego.gov/development-services/industry/telecom.shtml. The LJCPA meets the first Thursday of the month at 6 p.m. at La Jolla Recreation Center, 615 Prospect St.; call (858) 456-7900 or visit www.lajollacpa.org.