Parking will become more plentiful in the village since three La Jollans took an inventory of designated parking spaces and recommended that at least 67 of them be returned to the public for general parking. La Jolla’s community boards approved the suggestions, and the city plans to convert the spaces a few streets at a time, beginning with 15 spots on Fay and Herschel avenues to be returned within the month. “While every attempt was made to alert the community, merchants and landlords during the community discussion stage, the city wanted to make every effort to roll the program out slowly in an abundance of caution,” said Joe LaCava, a member of the La Jolla Traffic and Transportation Board (LJTTB). La Jolla residents Ed Ward, Orrin Gabsch and Bob Collins took the inventory and made the suggestions to LJTTB. Over the years, business or property owners had designated parking spaces in front of their buildings for commercial loading, passenger loading or 15-minute parking spots, but the community concurred that many of those spaces no longer serve that function. Business or property owners can pay a fee to the city’s Engineering and Capital Projects Department to designate parking spaces in front of their buildings, according to LJTTB Chair Todd Lesser. Valet no more The restaurant Jack’s La Jolla, which closed its doors earlier this summer, had converted eight spaces into valet-only, which the LJTTB voted on Oct. 22 to return to the public. The original conversion was controversial among some merchants, so following the Jack’s scenario, LJTTB and District 1 Councilwoman Sherri Lightner requested that the city send all requests for parking changes to the LJTTB for community input, which the city has complied with, according to Lesser. Reconfiguring in the Shores At the Oct. 22 meeting, the LJTTB voted to convert the 15-minute loading curbs into three-minute loading zones at the foot of Avenida de la Playa and Vallecitos. Lesser said the green curbs were intended to allow people to drop off their gear close to the beach and then search for parking. Instead, people with disabilities had used the 15-minute zones to park at all day, which is not permitted at three-minute loading zones. “It’s to restore the wishes of the community to use the space as loading or unloading,” Lesser said.  The La Jolla Traffic and Transportation Board meets the fourth Thursday of every month at 4 p.m. at La Jolla Recreation Center, 615 Prospect St. However, the board’s November and December meetings will be combined to a mid-December meeting.