La Jolla traffic board backs extending parking time from 60 to 90 minutes on part of Fay Avenue

The La Jolla Traffic & Transportation Board supported an extension of the time limit from 60 to 90 minutes for parking spaces along Fay Avenue between Silverado and Kline streets.

The unanimous approval came during the board’s April 18 meeting, during which the proposal returned after being heard in February but continued because of confusion about petition information and requirements.

Currently, Fay Avenue has dozens of spaces marked for one-hour parking between Silverado and Kline. Spaces are angled along the east side of the street and parallel on the west side.

Jason Peaslee, who owns The Cottage restaurant on Fay, submitted a new petition to T&T with 27 signatures of business owners along the block who support the proposed time extension.

With many of the businesses along that block being restaurants, gyms and salons, “everything takes more than an hour or so,” and customers often have to move their cars to avoid exceeding the time limit, Peaslee said.

An extension to 90 minutes would resolve that issue, he said.

T&T Chairman Brian Earley submitted the petition to the city of San Diego’s traffic engineering division, and “it came back as a valid petition,” he said, meaning the proposal could proceed for requested approval.

T&T board member Patrick Ryan reiterated his February concern that extending the time limit will “reduce the number of vehicles that can park here in one day,” which might lead to fewer dollars spent in The Village.

But Jodi Rudick, executive director of the La Jolla Village Merchants Association, spoke in support of the change.

“I think this makes a lot of sense because we don’t want any of the tip money that should be going to [Peaslee’s] servers going into parking enforcement’s hands,” she said. “I think this is a really good solution to help Jason and his customers have a more enjoyable experience.”

Nautilus Street medians

A rendering (right) from local architect Trace Wilson depicts his proposed improvements to medians on Nautilus Street, contrasted with a photo of current conditions (left).

(Trace Wilson)

The board took up a discussion of the medians along Nautilus Street between Fay Avenue and West Muirlands Drive, prompted by a presentation by La Jolla urbanist and architect Trace Wilson.

The presentation — heard as discussion-only — laid out Wilson’s plan to beautify the asphalt medians, which currently are overgrown with weeds.

Wilson aims to replace the asphalt in the medians with a combination of large cobblestones and coral aloe plants “which need no maintenance, no water,” he said. “It’s actually quite beautiful.”

The design is inspired by newer medians in downtown San Diego that contain drought-tolerant landscaping, Wilson said. He added that the Nautilus medians are too narrow to plant trees.

The plan might jump-start Wilson’s larger vision for beautifying Nautilus, he said, as it’s “low-hanging fruit” that can help show progress.

Wilson presented a concept in 2021 showing trees planted on both sides of Nautilus, along with roundabouts installed at a few intersections.

The proposed median improvements are “as simple, easy and constructable as possible,” Wilson said. The cobblestones would be cemented down and a weed barrier laid to assist maintenance.

Wilson said he’d like to get started as soon as possible given the medians’ current state and said a resident has donated $10,000 for the effort.

He said he doesn’t know how much the median project would cost in total but hopes other donations will come in to assist.

“It’s really a promenade down to Windansea for all these neighbors and ... families,” Wilson said.

Since the project would not be funded and installed by the city of San Diego, Earley said it would be “a public-private partnership, which I’m a big fan of because our city needs help. We’ve got to get in there and help. This could be the start of a cooperative between the city and La Jolla.”

Wilson said he will work on coming up with a total cost and work with City Councilman Joe LaCava’s office and city departments on right-of-entry permits and other considerations. He said the fleshed-out plan likely will return to T&T in May.

For more information, email twilson@materia-llc.com. ◆