A verdict on a year-long lighting project, expansion of the annual BirdStock Music Festival and volunteer work were some of the key story lines of the Bird Rock Community Council in 2024. After the group takes a January recess, it’s looking to pick up where it left off, President Joe Terry says.
Tree lighting
One of the projects set to make strides in 2025 is street tree lighting in Bird Rock’s commercial district, which is expected to have dozens of trees adorned with lights this year.
The project is intended to improve visibility, aesthetics and pedestrian safety.
In February, the Community Council secured a $25,000 grant from a Neighborhood Reinvestment Program through the office of San Diego County Supervisor Terra Lawson-Remer, whose District 3 includes La Jolla. In the following months, BRCC held several lighting demonstrations, showcasing different types of fixtures the board could purchase with the grant.
Three main options were provided to the community: lights hung from wires on branches, wraparound lights placed around the trunk and extending into the branches, and the eventual choice — uplighting installed under grids or dirt areas and projected onto the tree.
The programmable uplighting can change from its default “calm white” to more colors for holidays and other occasions.
In November, the board ordered 72 lights for 36 trees along La Jolla Boulevard. The board chose Carlsbad-based Outdoor Lighting Perspectives of North San Diego as the vendor after requesting proposals from five companies. The cost came to roughly $25,200.
BRCC will start with selecting the “lucky trees” for the first 72 lighting fixtures. Then it will need approval from the city of San Diego to access power from streetlights on each corner of the 5500-5700 blocks of La Jolla Boulevard and place low-voltage wires in the sidewalk expansion ts connecting to the trees.
If the city does not grant access to power from the streetlights, businesses along La Jolla Boulevard have agreed to be power donors, Terry said.
Eventually, 100 trees in Bird Rock’s commercial district could be decorated with lights. Terry said BRCC will gauge the success of the first batch and request additional bids if necessary.
“The plan is to eventually have lights for all the city trees along the sidewalks and medians and in the roundabouts, too, if power is available,” Terry said. “After installing those 72 uplighting fixtures, we will decide whether to use similar lighting for all the other trees.”
Neighborhood signs
Another ongoing project would place a pair of Bird Rock monument signs along La Jolla Boulevard. Terry said that should be done this year.
One sign is to be south of the Colima Street roundabout and the other north of the Camino de la Costa roundabout. Both likely will feature natural coastal rocks.
The board is soliciting bids for materials and installation. Some key elements of the signs are still undetermined, such as whether the rocks will have bird statues on them or be engraved with the words “Bird Rock.”
Pushing the project to the finish line also will involve assistance from the San Diego Parks & Recreation Department, Terry said. The effort, he added, should be funded with money from a Bird Rock donor and additional funds from Bird Rock’s Maintenance Assessment District.
Events in 2024
One of BRCC’s highlights from 2024 was how the community showed up for events and volunteering, Terry said.
In particular, he praised the “major enhancement” of the BirdStock festival with the closure of the 5500-5700 blocks of La Jolla Boulevard for the Oct. 19 event, which assembled musicians, merchants and various activities between Midway Street and Camino de la Costa. Proceeds benefit Bird Rock Elementary School and future BirdStock festivals.
“It seemed to be a big success … that benefited the community as a whole,” Terry said. “People from Bird Rock attended and had fun, merchants made more money that day than usual and it brought in people from surrounding areas.”
The Community Council also presented a community holiday party, happy hours and Halloween window painting in the commercial district. The 45th annual Beaumont Avenue Fourth of July Parade was among the year’s most attended local events, Terry said.
Volunteer help
The progress and successes Terry cited for the past year don’t mean the Community Council will be without challenges in the year. A big one, he said, is replacing its longtime newsletter producer.
As 2024 drew to a close, board member Barbara Dunbar decided she would no longer be in charge of the newsletter, which comes out every other month, and hoped other volunteers would step in. Dunbar pieced together content for the newsletter and performed various pre- and post-production tasks for each edition. Now the board is looking to fill that gap.
“We’re trying to figure out whether we need one or two or three Barbaras — new volunteers — to keep [the newsletter] going,” Terry said. “We’ve been slower than we should at finding how to keep it going.”
In Dunbar’s absence, the newsletter may see adjustments in its content and distribution, Terry said. The next edition will arrive a month after its typical release date.
Terry pointed to a larger desire for BRCC to recruit new volunteers to help sustain the board and take some of the weight off longtime contributors.
“Recruiting new volunteers for other Bird Rock projects and activities has become increasingly important as those who have been very active volunteers are finding that the aging process is limiting the types and amount of volunteer work they can do,” Terry said. “Bird Rock is a special place to live, work, own property or a business or visit, in part due to all that volunteers do for Bird Rock.”
Turquoise Street project
Terry added that the BRCC board will continue to oppose development of a planned 239-foot-tall, 213-unit residential-commercial building on Turquoise Street in north Pacific Beach, close to Bird Rock’s boundary.
Though he said “there is no question that San Diego and other California cities need more housing,” costs and benefits need to be considered when building more housing and, in the case of the proposed Turquoise Street development, building up.
BRCC hosted a presentation in November by Pacific Beach Planning Group Chairwoman Marcella Bothwell, a leading opponent of the project.
Next meeting
The Bird Rock Community Council is scheduled to return for its first meeting of the year at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 4, at Bird Rock Elementary School, 5371 La Jolla Hermosa Ave. Learn more at birdrockcc.org. ♦
