A previously controversial plan to build a religious center for Jewish students at UC San Diego will go before the San Diego Planning Commission next week for the third time in over a decade.
Hillel of San Diego will present its revised plans for the Beverly and Joseph Glickman Hillel Center at a public hearing in the City Council chambers on April 27.
The plans call for three small buildings totaling 6,500 square feet on a vacant triangle of land across La Jolla Village Drive from the campus and near the J. Craig Venter Institute.
“We are thrilled to be so close to making our dream of the Glickman Hillel Center a reality,” said David Michan, Hillel of San Diego board president. “This beautiful project will help us fulfill our mission of involving Jewish students in their faith in a meaningful and lasting way.”
Hillel has been working with the city and the community since 2003 to develop the project. Significant changes were made in 2009, reducing the size by nearly half.
“We have worked hard to design a project that will serve the needs of Hillel and also be an asset to the neighborhood,” said Rabbi David Singer, director of UC San Diego Hillel.
The group Taxpayers for Responsible Land Use has long opposed the project, saying it will cause traffic problems and undermine the character of the nearby La Jolla residential community.
Hillel offers religious programming for Jewish holidays and festivals, programs relating to Israel as the Jewish homeland, Jewish community building and community service opportunities. It currently uses a home in the neighborhood.
After the Planning Commission votes on the project, it will move forward for a final decision by the City Council later this spring.
