The Bird Rock Community Council has secured a $25,000 grant to help fund three ongoing projects, jump-starting a campaign to raise enough money to carry the projects to completion.
The projects are intended to:
• Improve visibility and safety on La Jolla Boulevard by adding more lights to features like street trees
• Replace the dated and sometimes malfunctioning pedestrian-activated crossing signals on La Jolla Boulevard
• Make and install neighborhood signs on La Jolla Boulevard consisting of small boulders adorned with pelican sculptures and/or the words “Bird Rock”
BRCC President Joe Terry said at the group’s meeting Feb. 6 that the $25,000 came from a Neighborhood Reinvestment Program grant from the office of San Diego County Supervisor Terra Lawson-Remer, whose District 3 includes La Jolla. The grant was approved by the Board of Supervisors last month.
Terry said the grant could be a “small down payment” to get the three projects started. The projects’ total cost wasn’t immediately clear.
The Community Council also submitted a request to the county for a $111,000 Community Enhancement Program grant. A decision on that grant is pending.
BRCC Vice President Craig Bender said “we still have a long way to go in of fundraising, but if we get the $111,000, it will get us a little bit farther.”
Aurora Livingston, representing the office of state Sen. Catherine Blakespear (D-Encinitas), encouraged the council to pursue grants from the state as well.
“The state provides funding for programs in the community, so the senator [whose 38th District includes La Jolla] is open to taking any proposals of community projects you may have,” Livingston said during the Feb. 6 meeting. “Because you have already submitted grants for various community improvement projects … you could probably send them our way. We cannot guarantee funding or how much … but this is another opportunity for your community to seek funding for your projects.”
In May, BRCC made a $50,000 budget request to the office of state Assemblywoman Tasha Boerner (D-Encinitas), whose 77th District includes La Jolla, to help replace the malfunctioning pedestrian crossing signals. But no money was provided.
An item in the Bird Rock Maintenance Assessment District budget for $35,000 for lighting and signage could supplement any grants the Community Council receives.
The projects
Lighting: “We have discovered that under certain circumstances, the city [of San Diego] would approve adding lights to the trees,” Terry said. “Should the BRCC decide to put lights in the trees, we want them to be aesthetically pleasing by day and night and neither harm the trees nor substantially increase the cost of maintaining healthy trees.”
Ideas being considered include wrapping lights around the tree trunks or adding uplighting to tree wells. An arborist will be involved when ideas are more fleshed out, Bender said.
“Based on what information we collect, we will share some options with the community and make a decision on how to move forward,” Terry said.
Pedestrian crossing signals: “We have asked the city, the county and the state … to replace the current crossing signals with more effective, easier-to-see signals,” Terry said.
The replacement signals “would be a horizontal, rapid-flashing beacon system … which are the same as the city has installed elsewhere on La Jolla Boulevard,” Terry said. “Those signals would be more visible and increase pedestrian safety. We will also ask the state to this project.”
The existing signals — which have flashing lights that when activated indicate a pedestrian would like to cross — are more than 15 years old, “are in constant need of repair and are much less effective in getting the attention of drivers on La Jolla Boulevard than modern signals would be,” Terry said previously.
Signs: Terry said the board has seen the latest renderings for boulder-and-bird sculptures that could be placed on the La Jolla Boulevard median. The project is being shepherded by La Jolla architect and urbanist Trace Wilson.
Terry said the renderings include four options:
• The original concept to place the sculptures at two roundabouts on La Jolla Boulevard to bookend the business district
• A single monument with the words “Bird Rock” on the median near the middle of the 5600 block of La Jolla Boulevard
• Two “Bird Rock” monuments to bookend the business district
• Some combination
The renderings are expected to be presented publicly at the next BRCC meeting.
Bender said the board is open to fundraising ideas and taking volunteers to help execute the projects. “We need all the help we can get,” he said. “It’s going to take a village to uplift Bird Rock.”
Those with questions or comments about the projects can email [email protected].
Other BRCC news
Police presence: During the meeting’s public comment period, on which no actions are taken, resident Don Schmidt said representatives of the San Diego Police Department should attend BRCC meetings to give reports.
“Our community relations officer used to come once a year but would go to other meetings every month,” Schmidt said.
He suggested a meeting be dedicated to police reports sometime in coming months.
Coastal overlooks: Schmidt, who is a member of the BRCC’s Coastal Overlooks Committee, said the group is looking for more volunteers.
“I don’t know how we get more community engagement, and I know everyone is busy, but if more people could give a few hours a month [to volunteering], we would be much better off,” he said.
The Coastal Overlooks Committee formed in 2018 and has made small aesthetic changes to some of the overlooks and view areas in Bird Rock.
Next meeting: The Bird Rock Community Council next meets at 6 p.m. Tuesday, March 5, at Bird Rock Elementary School, 5371 La Jolla Hermosa Ave., with limited Zoom access. Learn more at birdrockcc.org. ◆
