Like merchants group, Parks & Beaches to apply for county grant to help pay for La Jolla directional signs

The La Jolla Parks & Beaches board will follow the La Jolla Village Merchants Association in applying for a grant from San Diego County to help pay for planned directional signs in The Village.

LJP&B voted unanimously May 23 to seek a Neighborhood Redevelopment Program grant, which carries a maximum $40,000 award for each organization that applies. The hope is to have different community groups apply and pool the money to pay for the signs.

The Merchants Association already applied for the same grant to “take a big chunk out of” the cost of a directional, or wayfinding, sign program that has been explored the past few years.

At LJVMA’s meeting May 11, Executive Director Jodi Rudick said the total budget is about $140,000 and would include “a large La Jolla monument [sign] at what we call ‘Rotary Corner’ [on Torrey Pines Road near La Jolla Shores Drive, where there is a partially landscaped median].” The directional signs themselves would cost about $40,000, she said.

Rudick told Parks & Beaches that a representative of the county Board of Supervisors suggested that community groups apply for grants to help get the project done.

“We are asking that your group, as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, apply for a grant as well so we can get a few organizations to apply using the same language” and then use the multiple grants to pay for the signs, Rudick said.

LJVMA “took the bull by its horns and saw there was a need in the community,” Rudick said. Other communities have signs that help guide visitors to area landmarks, she added. “It’s not cutting edge, but it’s very functional.”

The proposal includes 26 static signs in strategic places mapped by a “mobility expert,” Rudick said. The project would include maps that show the general area and signs that indicate the direction and distance to landmarks and beaches. A final design has not been chosen, and the Parks & Beaches board was presented with several examples of what could be fabricated.

A rendering shows one of several design options for La Jolla directional signs.

(Courtesy of Jodi Rudick)

LJP&B President Bob Evans asked the board to create a small group to work with Rudick in applying for the grant and with LJVMA to execute it.

“This is a habit I want to get into as an organization to work with other organizations and grant applications for future projects,” Evans said. The committee will consist of LJP&B Vice President Brenda Fake and treasurer Tim Seery.

Fake said the wayfinding program “would allow people to navigate our little town and provide a welcome to people.”

LJP&B member Tom Brady called the program “way overdue, and … I think the enthusiasm around this is wonderful for the community. A lot can come from this.”

Rudick agreed, saying, “There is so much we can do, and it doesn’t have to all be done at once.”

Rudick said she tentatively hopes to have the signs in place by Memorial Day 2023. ◆