The Mission Bay Park Committee (MBPC) discussed binge-drinking boaters and proposed budget cuts at its May meeting. The advisory board also voted to forward a proposed plan for renovations at the Hilton San Diego Resort, 1775 E. Mission Bay Drive, to the city’s Design Review Committee.
The meeting began with a surprise appearance from Pete the penguin, in celebration of the 25th anniversary of SeaWorld’s Penguin Encounter. One of the park’s most popular attractions, the 25-degree, snow-filled habitat is home to nearly 300 penguins.
Commenting on a recent boating accident involving college students who were drinking, Sgt. Mark Heacox of the Mission Bay Harbor Police said, “The summer has begun.”
Binge drinking has moved from the beach, where it was recently banned, to the water, Heacox said.
“Clearly people want to still binge drink and they’re looking for an outlet to do that,” Heacox said.
“We can’t control what happens after they leave our dock,” said committee member Jeton Prince, who manages Seaforth Boat Rentals.
They can, however, terminate the rental agreement at any time if renters are behaving irresponsibly.
“Our goal is to get everyone to play nice together in the sandbox, the sandbox being Mission Bay Park,” said Sgt. Rick Strobel of the San Diego Lifeguard Services.
The MBPC’s safety subcommittee is also considering ways to make the bay safer. Additional buoys have a positive impact, subcommittee member Gregg Peterson said. The group is not recommending restricted boating hours, Peterson said, but is considering other suggestions.
“The police department and lifeguards are the ultimate authority on (rules and regulations in) Mission Bay,” said Mission Bay Park manager Susan Gonzales.
MBPC Chair Rick Bussell said he would like to eventually forward specific recommendations to the Park and Recreation Department.
The Park and Recreation Department recently approved a proposed budget that would once again eliminate a number of positions within the department, including that of Gonzales.
If City Council approves the budget, the position would not be eliminated so much as combined with other positions, a situation that Gonzales calls “ludicrous.”
“I’m busy 100 percent of the time with Mission Bay Park,” Gonzales said.
The only person on the Park and Recreation Board to vote no on the budget, Bussell agrees that it spreads resources too thin.
“It doesn’t provide adequate resources for us to run our park,” he said.
In other park news, the committee voted to forward proposed renovations at the Hilton in Mission Bay to the city’s Design Review Committee.
Suggested improvements include a new 1,200-square-foot pool, the addition of a trellis structure, landscape enhancements and a new one-story, 16,500-square-foot conference center to replace the existing 9,330-square-foot facility. Three tennis courts will be removed and parking will be reconfigured.
No parking spaces will be lost, said Alicia Calhoon, a project manager at Rossi Architecture, the firm handling the renovation.
“Overall it looks like a reasonable plan to me,” said the committee’s Council District 2 representative Judy Swink.
Monica Fuentes, who represents Council District 6, opposed the suggested Canary and date palms, calling them “terribly invasive.”
The committee voted to forward the proposed improvements, noting that it would prefer that project planners refrain from planting invasive species.