The best redevelopment plan for Fiesta Island is no plan at all, according to 400 participants in a public workshop to discuss the future of the site Aug. 16 at Mission Valley Library.
Proposed developments for the barren, sandy stretch at the center of Mission Bay Park included grassy parks, bike trails and camping for recreational vehicles.
In spite of the suggestions, the overwhelming majority of participants agreed that the island is perfect the way it is. Dog owners were especially vocal that the desolate, undeveloped island is one of the best places in San Diego for man’s best friend.
Acknowledging that Fiesta Island is “stark, bleak even,” Esther Hofer of Normal Heights said the arid space is one of the few leash-free places where she can take her 3-year-old Newfoundland.
“I like it kind of rustic and undeveloped. The dogs don’t care,” she said. “It’s our last little bit of freedom.”
Most of the participants echoed her sentiment.
“They want to take a place they’ve made and ruin it,” said Allen Greenwood, who remembers Fiesta Island when it was called Ducksville and home to sea bass, flounder and covered in eel grass. That was before the city dredged the area from 1948 to 1961, creating the bays and land masses that make up the man-made island.
The city is now entering a new phase outlined in the Mission Bay Park Master Plan, a guideline for development of the aquatic park accepted by City Council in 1994 and approved by the California Coastal Commission.
KTU+A, the firm the city has hired to complete the redevelopment project, has devised three possible plans for the area.
One alternative focuses on avoiding environmental impact, as Fiesta Island is home to nesting least terns as well as wetlands and other ecologically fragile habitats.
A second option conforms to the criteria outlined in the master plan and a third alternative is a modified version of the master plan.
None of the three plans address the number one demand for leash-free areas for dogs, said Michael Singleton, a consultant with KTU+A. When the plan was developed in the 1990s, it didn’t include designated areas for dogs, he said.
“We know the master plan has to be adjusted. We know we have to accommodate [the demand for dog areas],” Singleton said.
“This is the very first step in the process,” he added. “We’re saying this is what the master plan said. Given public input, we need to reconsider.”
There was no shortage of input. Participants were given sticky notes to record their comments and place on oversized maps of the island.
“Where are the dogs going to go?” asked one note. Other comments included, “Don’t touch anything!” and “Leave it alone!”
But not everyone agrees that Fiesta Island is an untouched paradise.
“Staying the same is not the way it should be. It should be improved,” said Gary Vavrek of Linda Vista. “Money needs to be spent to attract more people and make it more pleasant,” he added. Vavrek said he does not, however, want to see that money go toward hotels and condominiums.
Hofer also expressed concern about commercial development on the island.
“It’s going to look like Miami Beach. We’re going to lose the horizon and the view.”
Development is inevitable, said Rick Bussell, Mission Bay Park Committee (MBPC) representative, the advisory body that oversees the popular aquatic park.
“The reality is development is going to happen. Southern California is going to be developed,” Bussell said. “So what can we do? We can try to make it intelligent.”
Public input is a key part of the process, he said, noting that there are problems that need fixing, such as bumpy roads, trails that pose challenges for cyclists and a lack of family-oriented recreation areas.
That very solitude is what makes Fiesta Island so singularly unique, said many opponents to the redevelopment plan.
“Here [at Fiesta Island] I’m free,” said Debra Yarberry, who brings her dogs to the island almost daily from Lemon Grove.
Mindy Pellessier, the MBPC’s Ocean Beach Planning Board representative, said that the doggy demographic will not be easily swayed from their mission of retaining Fiesta Island’s simplicity.
“Dog owners are a quiet group, but when they feel threatened, they come out,” Pellessier said. “Hopefully they’ll pay attention to the needs of the dog community.”
The island also serves water skiers and Over the Line athletes, both of whom hope to see their interests represented in the future plans.
At the MBPC’s July meeting, water skiers practice their sport in the Hidden Anchorage area, voiced concern about the space possibly being turned over to swimmers. And members of the Old Mission Bay Athletic Club (OMBAC), which organizes the raucous Over the Line tournament, has also expressed concerns about whether redevelopment will impact how they use the island.
According to Paul Jacob of the city’s Park and Recreation Department, the current proposals are not the end, but the beginning, of a process that could take up to one year.
“What we’re doing here is a planning process. What we build is decided here. When we build is decided by City Council.”