Panel Straddles Fence on La Jolla Vote : Controversy: Enclosing sculpture garden at Museum of Contemporary Art is against the wishes of many, but a mandated gate is not exactly what the museum wanted, either.

In a decision that apparently pleased neither side, the San Diego Planning Commission voted Thursday to allow the Museum of Contemporary Art to build a controversial fence on its La Jolla oceanfront property--as long as it includes a gate for the public to use during working hours.

The vote came amid an ongoing debate in La Jolla, where residents say the museum should not be allowed to build the fence to enclose its sculpture garden.

A local cadre of citizens have collected more than 2,500 signatures from people who say the garden is a gift to the community from the late La Jolla philanthropist Ellen Browning Scripps and should not be enclosed.

For their part, museum administrators have argued that the garden is private museum property--bought and paid for--to do with as they please.

As part of an ambitious expansion plan, museum officials announced two years ago they wanted to fence the three-quarters of an acre garden so they can protect valuable outdoor sculptures they plan to display at the 50-year-old museum.

In the past, officials say, there has been damage caused by vandals and vagrants who regularly congregate on the picturesque seaside site near downtown La Jolla.

The museum had planned to offer sculpture garden access only to patrons who paid an admission price. Thursday’s decision forces the museum to provide free admission to the garden to those using the gate.

On Thursday, a spokesman for the citizen’s group said she was displeased with the Planning Commission’s decision to allow for construction of a 6-foot wrought-iron fence.

“We don’t want a fence, period,” said Melinda Merryweather, who collected many of the signatures against the fence project. “We don’t want a fence with a gate or without a gate.

“Just having a fence completely destroys the idea of a park there. It ruins the wonderful gift that Miss Scripps left behind.”

Merryweather said group members would meet soon to decide whether to appeal the Planning Commission’s decision.

Earlier this week, a group of citizens asked the city’s historic site board to declare the site historically significant--a move they hope would slow any construction on the property. The historic board voted to postpone its decision in lieu of more research on the property.

Museum Director Hugh Davies said late Thursday the Planning Commission’s decision was not a total loss.

“The good news is that we’ll be able to secure the garden after business hours,” he said. “Most of the vandalism to the outdoor sculptures and the vagrancy have taken place after 5 p.m. and before 9 a.m.

“Therefore, we think the glass is half full. We’ll be able to protect the art in the garden. We just won’t be able to protect it 24 hours a day.”

Davies said the museum had not yet decided whether it will appeal the decision.

Philanthropist Ellen Browning Scripps built two homes on the property before her death in 1932--after which the land was willed to a local hospital. The land was purchased with public funds in 1941 with the idea of creating a museum there.

Since then, numerous residents have strolled the property, saying they have an unwritten right to use the park in the memory of Miss Scripps.