La Jollans Say ‘Bologna’ to Aquarium Plan

“This appears to be the first slice of bologna with a lot more slices to come,” La Jolla Highlands resident Irwin Jacobs said about the proposed aquarium at Scripps Institution of Oceanography near his home.

Jacobs and 14 other La Jollans spoke at a Wednesday hearing about the aquarium, which is planned by Scripps and its parent, the University of California. Most questions centered on what will happen on the vacant land between their homes and the ocean.

The new aquarium will occupy about 5.5 acres of the vacant 100-acre Scripps tract east of La Jolla Shores Drive. The remaining land, neighbors fear, will be filled with unsightly, traffic-producing businesses that have little or nothing to do with Scripps.

The small group of La Jolla Highlands residents, who first voiced opposition to the new aquarium site and its planned access road, have gained support from nearby neighbors, La Jolla soccer league officials and La Jolla Shores residents, who earlier had endorsed the $6- million facility, which is expected to attract 500,000 visitors a year when it opens in 1990.

Jacobs’ plea to the university officials to “show us the whole bologna, not just one slice,” was echoed by others.

Fears that a shopping center that the San Diego City Council vetoed for a nearby development--Blackhorse Farms--is now planned for the vacant Scripps land, which lies west of the UCSD main campus between Torrey Pines Road and La Jolla Shores Drive, was voiced by Jeffrey Broido.

“Are we looking at a plan or only part of a plan?” he asked university planner Patricia Collum. “What else is coming?”

Several residents said the access road, which would wind through the vacant acreage, ending at Torrey Pines Road, is proof that the entire area is being opened for development. Soccer league officials said the road would run directly north of the soccer field, creating a hazard for young players and increasing illegal use of the field’s parking lot.

After the hearing, Collum conceded that the access route would open up for development other areas of the Scripps tract, but denied that any commercial uses were planned.

Larry Keller, a La Jolla Shores resident, warned that information presented to site selection board members was not contained in the project’s environmental impact report. Visitor attendance was “grossly understated” and traffic congestion, noise and light pollution from the aquarium and access road were not adequately covered in the report, he said.

La Jolla Shores Assn. members have asked UCSD Chancellor Richard Atkinson to hold another public hearing on the project’s environmental impacts.