Parallel parking will be added along Camino del Oro at Kellogg Park.
The La Jolla Shores Association narrowly approved a concept to convert a strip of land near Kellogg Park into parking for the La Jolla Shores outdoor dining program.
The plan, first presented April 10 but only as a discussion item, passed 5-4 at the LJSA Aug. 14 meeting after an extensive, strained discussion.
The proposal would replace a sand berm along Camino del Oro at the Kellogg Park parking lot with 24 new parallel parking adjacent to the street.
The concept, recommended by the city of San Diego, is part of the La Jolla Shores Business Association’s plan to satisfy a statewide parking requirement for its outdoor dining program after last year’s initial proposal.
The dining program, originally a 2020 response to pandemic-related restrictions, has kept one block of Avenida de la Playa closed to vehicles so that restaurants can place outdoor seating on the street.
A recent California Coastal Commission requirement states in order to continue the closure, the business association must find new parking for the spots lost to the dining.
“The idea is just to keep the [dining] event going.” LJSBA representative Wise said Aug. 14.
One benefit of the parking proposal is that “it adds parking at the beach, where we desperately need more parking and it does not damage any landscaping,“ said Shores resident Janie Emerson, who helped conceive the idea.
The proposal will not take parkland or use parking already established at Kellogg Park and will be funded by private donations.
The discussion, however, centered on whether to allow the closure of Avenida de la Playa at all, though LJSA President John Pierce, Wise and others maintained the two are separate issues with the closure already decided.
“We’re here just to talk about the parking section. … It’s hard to separate it because it is tied together,” Pierce said.
Street closure in La Jolla Shores on Avenida de la Playa.
Shores resident and former San Diego City Council member Sherri Lightner cited city municipal code language on promenades, defined as the partial or complete street closure for uses including dining, saying promenades are not permitted adjacent to residential zones.
The La Jolla Shores community commercial district “is one street wide and is adjacent to and surrounded by single family and multi family residential properties,” she said. “Any closure of Avenue de la Playa forces the traffic into surrounding residential zones.”
“It seems to me that the restaurants are benefiting tremendously,” LJSA trustee Andrew Perry, whose gallery on Avenida de la Playa is just outside the closure and objects to the new parking spaces being a few blocks away.
“The other people are suffering,” Perry said. “Our business has really gone down since the parking spaces were taken away.”
Others argued more parking anywhere is beneficial to all.
“I think this is a good proposal,” said Shores resident Forrest Miller. “I don’t see why we can’t all benefit from additional parking at the beach.”
“In principle, I’m supportive of additional parking,” board member Kathleen Neil said. “It’s a busy area, … but this is probably the best place we can get additional parking.”
The city will now review the proposal.
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