By Morgan M. Hurley | Editor

Commissioners approve ‘framework report’

The Unified Port of San Diego just released its “Integrated Planning Framework Report,” a document that will guide the development and trajectory of its Master Plan Update, which was authorized in July 2015.

The formalized Master Plan, which looks ahead 50 years and will be updated over time as needed, will continue to offer opportunities for public input throughout its development process.

Port Commissioners working the plan include Chairman Dan Malcolm, Imperial Beach; Vice Chair Marshall Merrifield, San Diego; Robert “Dukie” Valderrama, secretary, National City; Garry J. Bonelli, Coronado; Rafael Castellanos, San Diego; Ann Moore, Chula Vista; and Bob Nelson, San Diego.

The Master Plan, currently 142 pages, will act as the Port’s blueprint, providing a “balanced approach” to planning with regard to the 6,000 acres of land and water within its jurisdiction, including 33 miles of shoreline.

The Port first began public outreach — which has included more than 100 interviews with various agencies and stakeholders — and laying the groundwork for the Master Plan back in 2013. Outreach has occurred through a series of workshops, community engagement events, board meetings and other methods, and these will continue.

The Integrated Planning Framework Report, approved on Nov. 17 by the Board of Port Commissioners, is the last step required before the “visionary stage” of the planning process may begin. The report was designed and produced by HKS Urban Design Studio, with the help of Carrier Johnson; CCI Partners; Cook and Schmid; Randall Lamb Associates; and Spurlock Poirier Landscape Architects.

The 116-page document is filled with informational graphs, dozens of colorful maps, artist renderings and other graphics, as well as hundreds of photographic images taken from both space and from various locations around the three parts of the San Diego Bay the report references: the North Bay, the Working Waterfront, and the South Bay.

Appendices offer before and after redevelopment plans for high use areas in the North Bay that could affect Downtown, including Shelter Island, Harbor Island, the Embarcadero, Seaport Village and a relocation of the cruise ship terminal to Harbor Island, just to name a few.

It also offers a series of objectives for the Port Master Plan Update to follow, including ways to modernize, simplify and balance the objectives.

In addition, the Framework identifies comprehensive planning ideas for areas such as land use, water use and mobility; public access and recreation; natural resources; safety and resilience; and economic development.

The report explains how readers should use the information.

“This Framework Report is intended to provide guidance and is not a regulatory document or legal standard of review for the actions of the District may take to update the Port Master Plan or implement associated development or conservation activities within the District’s jurisdiction. Such actions are subject to the applicable requirements of the Coastal Act, the federal coastal Zone Management Act, the California Environmental Quality Act, and other applicable laws and regulations as applied in the context of those actions.”

The Port’s previous Master Plan, the basis by which the current plan will be formulated, was put in place in 1981.

According to Joel Hoffman in his Voice of San Diego piece, “Things to know about the Port’s new master plan,” dated Nov. 5, 2013, shortly after the new master plan was announced, the 1981 plan had been amended 35 times in the three decades following its adoption, prior to the Port embarking on the new plan.

Then Port Commission Chairman Ann Moore told Hoffman that the former plan “lacks regional unity and doesn’t adequately address concerns about open space preservation, public access to the waterfront and the need for more parking and transportation options,” all things that are necessary for such a plan today.

The vision statement in the current Framework Report speaks to the region’s changing culture, environment and coastline as it stands today.

“Promote the Bay as a central environmental, economic, and recreational resource for all people in the region. At the same time, reinforce the differences in character and culture between each of the constituent cities and equitably balance available resources between maritime and commerce, job growth, recreation, the United States Navy and the need to protect and restore natural resources and the protection of public health along with man-made investments. The Port of San Diego should be regarded as a 21st century, state-of-the-art facility and institution.”

Several “planning principles” echo the preservation aspects of the vision statement: honor the water; guarantee the public realm; celebrate nature and ecology.

San Diego Downtown News wants to help make the Master Plan and its Integrated Planning Framework Report more accessible and understandable to our readers.

As a result, in the coming months we will work with the Port District and various other stakeholders to address the plan and its potential impacts for the communities of Downtown, and help the public better understand the process.

In the meantime, to learn more about the future of the Port of San Diego, visit these links below:

• The Port of San Diego’s landing page with links to various documents regarding the plan — tinyurl.com/gn9z7ry

• Location of the Port of San Diego’s Master Plan Update (downloadable document) — tinyurl.com/jtbpq7g

• Integrated Planning Framework Report (online document) — tinyurl.com/j2xffg2

• Port’s comprehensive website regarding the Master Plan Update, allowing for public input — portforall.org

—Morgan M. Hurley can be reached at [email protected].