Guest commentary: La Jolla MAD marks first year and works on plants, sidewalks, streetlight poles and more

The La Jolla Maintenance Assessment District celebrated one full year of operations in October, working to proactively ensure cleanliness in the district with regular litter abatement, landscaping and pressure-washing activities.

Current projects underway include landscaping improvements and more precision-focused sidewalk pressure-washing. Sidewalk pressure-washing continues three times a week: Sunday night into Monday morning, Monday night into Tuesday morning and Thursday during the day.

Planting of potted plants throughout the district is underway, along with laydown of new ground cover in tree wells and sidewalk cutouts with mature trees.

Landscaping activities accomplished in October include planting 24 red and white dipladenias in various sidewalk planters and tree bases in the district, replacing a missing pygmy palm on Prospect Street between Girard Avenue and Herschel Avenue, and installing two yards of large cobblestones and Mexican beach rock in several tree wells along Girard between Prospect and Kline streets. Overgrown succulents in four planters on Pearl Street between Fay Avenue and Drury Lane were trimmed.

A project to restore weathered and rusting streetlight poles concluded with 21 poles getting a fresh coat of paint. Following sanding and priming, these streetlight poles, located from the district’s southernmost border on Girard Avenue to Silverado Street, were painted from top to bottom, as was an additional streetlight pole on Herschel Avenue between Wall Street and Silverado.

On Oct. 29, LJ MAD met with representatives of the Collection Services Division of the city of San Diego’s Environmental Services Department to discuss the collection schedule for public trash receptacles in the district. Discards from 41 city trash receptacles within the geographic boundaries of the MAD are collected seven days a week, the city’s first stop on a daily route spanning from La Jolla to San Ysidro.

Looking forward, LJ MAD will continue to refresh landscaping in the public right of way, installing plants in sidewalk planters and at the base of tree wells.

A redesign of the Enhance La Jolla website to augment content about LJ MAD activities continues. Watch for an announcement when the new enhancelajolla.org website goes live.

Lastly, a consolidation plan for nearly 70 newsstands throughout the district is in its final phase. Discussions with publication owners and the city of San Diego are nearing mutual finality regarding newsstand placement in several proposed locations.

Caring for The Village presents challenges and opportunities. If you see an issue needing attention, please contact Enhance La Jolla at (858) 444-5892 or email manager@enhancelajolla.org.

Mary Montgomery is district manager for the La Jolla Maintenance Assessment District. ◆