Approximately 250 people reviewed and provided input on a proposed redevelopment plan for Fiesta Island Thursday, March 22, at the Balboa Park Club.
The title of the project, the Fiesta Island general redevelopment plan, has created a misconception that buildings will be constructed on the desolate 485-acre island in Mission Bay Park, said Paul Jacob of the City of San Diego Park and Recreation Department. The project has been renamed the Fiesta Island Precise Park Plan.
“Park and Recreation builds park facilities. That’s all that will be going on,” Jacob said.
Proposed park facilities include grassy parkland, a camping area, restrooms, multi-use trails, protected wildlife habitats, designated public beaches that could accommodate swimming, water-skiing, canoeing and other aquatic sports and leash-free areas for dogs.
At a public workshop in August, approximately 600 participants identified leash-free areas as their No. 1 use for Fiesta Island.
The Mission Bay Park Master Plan ” a guideline for park development approved by City Council and the California Coastal Commission in 1994 and the basis for the Fiesta Island project ” does not include designated leash-free areas.
Dog owners are among a very vocal group lobbying that the island be left alone. Other users have said that bicycle trails and other specific elements need to be improved.
“Doing nothing would continue a legacy of breaking promises,” said lead architect Mike Singleton of KTU+A, the consulting firm handling the project.
The city promised Mission Bay Park lessees that Fiesta Island, which was created in the 1960s to dry sewage sludge, would be developed. Furthermore, Singleton said, the city promised the Coastal Commission an enhanced Fiesta Island.
Balancing the Master Plan of 1994 with current uses for the park has resulted in Alternative 4D, a version that Singleton says is dramatically scaled back from the original proposal.
“The public’s vision may not match what it was in 1994,” Singleton said. “We’ve made a lot of compromises. I’ve tried very hard to make this all fit together.”
One of the main compromises was balancing parkland with the demand for leash-free areas in the southern part of the island. The leash-free fenced area will be decreased from 93 acres to roughly 70, a 25 percent reduction. The leash-free fenced area along the shoreline will be reduced 9 percent, from 1.14 miles to 1.04 miles. Additional fencing will also be installed in picnic areas.
Potential conflicts between picnickers and dogs could eventually result in dogs being kicked out of Fiesta Island, said Barbara Greenwood of Ocean Beach. She is further frustrated by additional fencing and loss of shoreline access that will instead be devoted to swimmers.
Creating a haven for wildlife and restoring native species need to be priorities, Jim Peugh from the Audubon Society said. The amount devoted to wildlife is too narrow, he said.
“It’s the one opportunity to experience wildlife. It’s being shrunk down too much,” Peugh said. “Fiesta Island is an opportunity we’ve blown completely. Now we have an opportunity to get it back.”
Kay Henderson of Alpine also has concerns about the loss of open space. Fiesta Island’s large, unobstructed leash-free area is part of what gives San Diego its “dog-friendly reputation,” Henderson said. “Without it, it’s just another city.”
“[Dog owners] look at this as their local park. It’s not their park. It’s a national gem,” said Rick Bussell, the Mission Bay Park Committee’s (MBPC) Council District 6 representative. “We want to make sure this process is open and fair. We don’t want to see one group dominating,” he said.
Dog owners and other users do not have to be at odds, said Outrigger Canoe Club member Margot Darby of University Heights.
“I’m not against dog owners, but I support access,” she said.
Darby said the proposed redevelopment plan “will absolutely 100 percent improve access and the environment.”
Fiesta Island user and dog owner Britta Justesen said, “[Fiesta Island] is one place in San Diego where you have freedom. It’s not regulated. That’s the beauty of it.”
Nevertheless, she believes the proposal has potential ” if it can be maintained.
“It’s a great idea if the city has the money to maintain it,” Justesen said. “Otherwise, it’s like taking a Picasso painting and storing it in a garage.”
The price tag for the proposed plan is roughly $150 million, Singleton said.
In addition to the sludge mitigation fund, Singleton said the project could be funded through a Mission Bay Enterprise Fund ” wherein a certain percentage of lease revenue would go toward park development rather than the city’s general fund ” a possible increase in transient occupancy tax (TOT) revenues, a potential citywide park bond and Proposition 84, a statewide measure devoted to enhanced water quality and natural improvements.
Before funding comes into play, the proposal must first receive the approval of the MBPC, the Park and Recreation Board, the Coastal Commission and City Council.
If the Coastal Commission finds that the proposal is inconsistent with the Master Plan, it will be readjusted until it does conform, Jacob said.
Even if the proposal is approved, it could be a couple of years before any changes are made, Singleton said, because projects of this scope are usually done on a 20-year plan.
Although this is the last scheduled public workshop, it is “not the last chance by any stretch of the imagination for public input,” Singleton said.
To review the plan, complete a survey and provide comments, visit www.fiestaislandgdp.com.