Trying to avoid an undergrounding repeat

June Casagrande

As Peninsula Point residents prepare to vote on whether to be

assessed to move their utilities underground, the city is taking a

lesson from Balboa Island, where one family has been the lone holdout

for underground utilities.

The residents of 135 homes in the Peninsula Point area will submit

to the City Council by Tuesday their votes on whether to be taxed

about $5,500 each to pay to move their telephone, electricity and

cable TV lines underground. If more than half of them agree, as a

petition earlier this year suggests they will, then all of them must

also pay out of pocket to have their homes’ utilities hooked up to

the new underground equipment. That could cost anywhere from $300 to

$3,000 per home.

But as city officials hammer out the details of the Peninsula

Point assessment district, they’re including wording that will

bolster their power to enforce the arrangement.

“It’s my understanding that all the districts that we process from

this point forward will have better controls over that type of

thing,” said Steve Badum, public works director for the city.

This new approach was inspired by a conflict between the city and

the residents of 120 Grand Canal, who have refused to hook up their

house’s utilities to the underground hardware, even though they are

already paying the taxes. The result is that one utility pole remains

on Little Balboa Island after all the others have been removed.

Badum said that this situation might be resolved soon: City

officials have contacted the owners of the house, who do not reside

there and who, unlike the residents, have not put up resistance to

the utilities project.

“We’re confident we can come to a resolution without any real

battle,” Badum said.

On Peninsula Point, the plan affects the area bordered by Ocean

Boulevard, East Ocean Front, G Street and Channel Road.

“There’s no doubt in my mind that it helps the overall aesthetic

value of the entire area,” said Mayor Tod Ridgeway, whose own home

had its utilities moved underground about eight years ago. “Most

people agree it’s a benefit.”