SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) — The effort to split La Jolla off from San Diego and make the coastal community its own city has hit a setback. On Friday, the regional entity in charge of municipal boundaries, the Local Agency Formation Commission, sent a letter to the group behind the latest push to r ealize La Jolla cityhood, informing them their recent petition to get the ball rolling did not collect enough signatures. The group, known as the Association for the City of La Jolla, now has just 15 days collect an additional 1,027 unique signatures of La Jolla residents to meet the commission's threshold to initiate consideration of their proposal. Should this goal not be met, the so-called "La Jexit" secession efforts could get sent back to square one. San Diego residents protest proposed trash and recycling fees Making the community of La Jolla its own city has been a goal of some residents for decades, but only in the last few years have its proponents gained momentum. The Association for the City of La Jolla said back in December it had submitted more than 7,000 signatures from supporters to finally put the proposal before the Local Agency Formation Commission for the first time. In its letter Friday, however, officials with the commission said only 5,723 of the signatures were validated, coming up short of the 6,750 threshold — or 25% of voters in the proposed city limits — needed to move the petition forward. According to the Registrar of Voters office, more than 1,000 of the signatures submitted were found to be erroneous for reasons like the voter was registered at a different address outside the proposed city lines, it was a duplication, or the individual's registration could not be verified. Even if the association can make up the difference in their 15-day remedy period, the community's secession still faces an uphill battle, between getting the Local Agency Formation Commission on board and gaining traction among a wider segment of voters. Supporters say the split would help ease financial pressures on the city of San Diego for things like beach and roadway upkeep, as well as give La Jolla residents more flexibility to get other important projects to their community off the ground. On the flip side, those who have voiced concern about La Jolla’s separation argue cutting off certain taxes from San Diego’s revenue could be a significant blow to this financial health, as the area has some of the most expensive properties in the region and is an epicenter of its tourism. ...read more read less