A milestone event in the history of northeast Mission Bay continued on Feb. 15 with the demolition of one of the last abandoned, and dilapidated mobile homes onsite celebrating the long-awaited clean-up of De Anza Cove.

Michael and Jacob Gelfand of Terra Vista Management, which operates Campland on the Bay along with Mission Bay RV Resort at 2727 De Anza Road, were joined by Friends of Campland and Mayor Todd Gloria for a brief presentation. Officials then witnessed the tearing down of one of the last 50 remaining mobile homes, out of more than 500 once inhabiting the site.

“This is really to celebrate the cleanup of Mission Bay’s De Anza peninsula, something I have been working on for over 40 years,” said Michael Gelfand, Terra Vista president. “After four years of regulatory delays, we finally have obtained a permit to do several things: remove the toxic remains of the mobile homes that have blighted this corner of Mission Bay; reopen the public bike bath surrounding this entire property; and sustainably provide new campsites where there once were mobile homes.”

“It is a big milestone for us but more so for the community,” said Jacob Gelfand, Terra Vista COO, prior to the press conference. “The community has been waiting for this cleanup process to happen for far too long. There were unavoidable delays due to COVID and other issues, and regulatory hurdles to overcome. But we didn’t give up and kept moving ahead with overwhelming support from the community the whole way through, which was really important. We’re just really happy to be able to show the kind of work – and the transformation – that’s going on here.”

“This 40-plus year odyssey of the discussion of the De Anza peninsula is over,” said Gloria. “We are going to move forward with opening this back up to the public, and we’re going to envision a grander future that will involve a lot of public input. San Diegans deserve this access now. We are going to have an opportunity to enjoy this park the way it was intended, the way we haven’t been able to do for nearly 40 years, but will be able to soon again. This is a really good day for San Diego.”

Sean Schwab and Elizabeth Van Cleef, co-chairs of Friends of Campland support group, both spoke in favor of the mobile home demolition and cleanup.

“We look forward to experiencing the opportunities for thousands of San Diego families, like our own, to experience enhanced camping opportunities around here,” said Schwab.

“We’re looking forward to protecting local habitats, and expanding opportunities for people to enjoy Mission Bay,” said Van Cleef.

The City Council voted 6-3 in 2019 to enter into a lease with Terra Vista allowing the beachfront RV park and campground to do asbestos clean-up and existing mobile home removal at Mission Bay RV Resort. Terra Vista’s plans call for adding 150 more RV campsites there while re-opening the scenic coastal bike and pedestrian path around the De Anza peninsula as part of its five-year lease extension with the city.

There is also an environmental plan, known as the ReWild project, proposed to enhance and restore 170 acres of tidal wetland habitat in the northeast corner of Mission Bay, including the enhancement of 40 acres of existing tidal wetland habitat at Kendall-Frost Marsh adjacent to Campland on the Bay.

A compromise agreement was struck between San Diego Audubon Society and Campland, which guarantees new RV spaces Campland is creating on the De Anza boot will be as far away from the public bay front — and future wetland restoration — as possible. Campland will now place new campsites only in the northeastern corner of their De Anza Cove leasehold boundary.