Youth sports leaders unhappy with City’s De Anza Cove plan

Recreational and lodging interests are reacting negatively to the City’s updated proposal for redeveloping De Anza Cove in the northeastern corner of Mission Bay Park, fearing it could threaten the existence of athletic fields and low-cost camping.

The City’s revised proposal, titled De Anza Natural, would be an amendment to the Mission Bay Park Master Plan. It envisions a balance of land uses that serve local and regional recreational needs, while also restoring natural habitats and preparing for the impacts of climate change. The revised 2022 proposal includes more wetlands and ensures consistency with the recently adopted Climate Resilient SD Plan.

Mark Sullivan and Justin Weber, both representing Pacific Youth Soccer League, which operates on fields near the proposed wetlands expansion of the existing Kendall-Frost Marsh, said losing those recreational fields would be catastrophic for local youth.

“The City of San Diego’s proposal to expand wetlands as described within its De Anza Cove Amendment to the Mission Bay Master plan will destroy the Bob McEvoy field complex with no guarantee of replacement,” Sullivan said. “The Bob McEvoy complex, which hosts baseball, softball, soccer, and tennis, was constructed on land dedicated to the City in the mid-1950s by Bob McEvoy for the sole purpose of supporting youth athletics. It is now at risk due to a new framework proposal for De Anza Cove that would turn much of the area into wetlands.”

“We’re a full volunteer operation in its 51st year and McEvoy is our primary field for our recreational program,” said Weber. “We play all our games for kids under 9 years old there. If those fields go away, we are going to be stuck trying to pivot to find other fields. We have more than 1,300 players in our leagues. We just want the fields to remain a place for kids to get together and play soccer.”

The revised proposal, titled De Anza Natural, would be an amendment to the Mission Bay Park Master Plan and envisions a balance of land uses that serves local and regional recreational needs, while also restoring natural habitats and preparing for the impacts of climate change.

Andrew Meyer, director of conservation at nonprofit San Diego Audubon Society, said the City’s land-use proposal “includes lots of acres for camping and for neighborhood recreation.” He added that “none of that goes away with the updated De Anza Cove Amendment.

“The City should plan for recreation on the bay-wide scale and should be balancing restored land uses in the northeast corner compared to the whole bay. Working wetlands with accessible, nature-based, education programs and cultural center access are new opportunities in the bay, a better balance for all of us. Adding those as part of a wetland restoration project is a recreational improvement to the whole Park.”

Added Meyer: “The northeast corner of Mission Bay is the best place in the City for wetland restoration because we have the last remnant of tidal habitat there at Kendall-Frost and we have freshwater coming in from Rose Creek. We’ll all benefit from the water-quality improvement, sea-level-rise resilience, and recreational opportunities that will come from a restored wetland. Mission Bay Regional Park is over 4,000 acres. We need to prioritize restored park components, with the recreation they bring.”

“Camping on Mission Bay is an iconic part of San Diego’s history that aligns with our love of the outdoors,” said Jacob Gelfand, COO for Terra Vista Management, Inc. which runs Campland on the Bay. “Waterfront RV camping and outdoor recreation have been particularly important resources for San Diegans given the challenges posed by the pandemic. We are pleased to see the City’s new site plan continues to include waterfront campsites utilizing existing infrastructure while protecting environmental resources. We look forward to continuing this important discussion to determine the future of this beloved corner of the bay.”

“I’m just disappointed they resisted all suggestions to redesign the golf courses and open up that side of the park to the community instead of keeping it fenced off,” said Carolyn Chase, a member of Pacific Beach Planning Group speaking for herself. “They could have had a real nice 21st-century design, but no, nothing creative at all on that front.”

Sullivan of PYSL said that, while it’s true the De Anza Amendment does preserve existing recreational space, it significantly downsizes the amount of that space available without providing any guarantees that that won’t be changed in the future.

“They put into the plan 44 acres for athletic fields that includes the golf course and tennis courts,” he said. “That’s shrunk down from the 66 acres we have now that is heavily used. We don’t have an option to find another field. They’re really not out there. The DeAnza Cove plan must preserve the existing Bob McEvoy field complex.”

Venus Molina, chief of staff for District 2 Councilmember Dr. Jennifer Campbell whose district includes Mission Bay, said their office was meeting with Mayor Todd Gloria on Feb. 16 to discuss the De Anza Natural Plan and proposed wetlands expansion.

“We’re hearing from so many folks about the baseball and soccer fields,” she said. “We’re going to discuss with him (mayor) what’s going to happen with this amendment, and what it’s going to look like moving forward.”