Balboa poles could be next to go

Alicia Robinson

More utility poles could disappear in the next few years as another

neighborhood moves forward with putting utility lines underground.

The City Council will vote tonight on whether to pay close to

$103,000 to design a project putting phone and electrical lines

underground on the Balboa Peninsula near Bay Island. After the design

work is complete, property owners in the area will vote to charge

themselves for the design and construction of the project.

Similar projects have been done on Little Balboa Island and in

Beacon Bay and other parts of the city. Residents in the Balboa

business district in January rejected the plan to tax themselves for

utility line burial, but when Mayor Tod Ridgeway revived the project

in April, they agreed to it.

The cost to property owners for the proposal won’t be known until

after the design work is done, but they’re likely to approve the work

because it is their project rather than the city’s, Ridgeway said. A

petition signed by at least 60% of homeowners in the proposed

assessment district is required for the city to front the money for

engineering.

“The city does not advocate or undertake these projects except in

... highly public areas,” he said. “The initiative comes from the

areas, the neighborhoods or communities.”

This project will include about 100 properties in an area between

East Edgewater Avenue and Edgewater Place to the north and Balboa

Boulevard to the south, and the west side of Anade Avenue going east

to Adams Avenue. It also includes some properties on Buena Vista

Boulevard and Lindo Avenue between the project’s north and south

boundaries.

Most residents were in favor of the work, although an area of

primarily rental properties by the Balboa Pier posed more of a

challenge, said East Bay Avenue property owner Bruce Brandenburg. He

and Lindo Avenue resident Chris Harano circulated petitions and

drummed up support for the utility project.

“Anybody you walked up to that had a telephone pole outside their

house, they didn’t ask, they just signed,” Brandenburg said.

Neighborhoods that have had their utilities buried look

dramatically different, Brandenburg said, and he expects the same

results.

“The aesthetics of the area will be better,” he said. “Property

values will go up, and if anybody walked down to Island [Avenue]

right now, where they’ve already done it, ... it’s night and day.”

Brandenburg estimated the average cost per property owner at

$7,000 to $8,000. Property owners can choose to spread their

assessments over a 15-year period.

The utility burial won’t happen overnight. Engineering and design

can take up to two and a half years, and the construction time can

vary depending on the project’s size, said Iris Lee, a junior civil

engineer for the city. This project’s proximity to the water may pose

difficulties in construction, she said.

After the design is done, residents will vote on creating a

special tax assessment district to pay for the project.