The Mission Bay Park Committee (MBPC) discussed where new parkland came from and where Fiesta Island is headed at its regularly scheduled meeting, 6 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 5, at the Santa Clara Recreation Center.
A city-commissioned survey of Mission Bay Park in 2000 reported approximately 750 more acres of land, an increase of nearly 15 acres from a 1994 assessment of the area.
Where did the land come from?
“It was a mystery to me,” said Councilwoman Donna Frye. “It’s not a mystery anymore.”
According to the survey, the extra land acreage is located in a flood channel in the middle of the San Diego River.
“It’s not land. You can catch fish there,” Frye said.
Wetlands also were counted toward the park’s total land area.
Under Section 55.1 of the city charter, no more than 25 percent of the park’s land can be devoted to nonprofits and commercial leases.
Will Griffith, the former head of Real Estate Assets, took a liberal view toward nonprofits and did not consider them part of that 25 percent, said the committee’s Council District 2 representative Judy Swink.
The inflated land acreage “flies in the face of the charter,” Frye said. “We need to provide the public with real numbers, sensible numbers,” she added.
A grand jury reviewed the survey results according to criteria put forth by the city attorney.
Calling the survey criteria “opinion that became part of the scope of the work,” Frye said the result “is essentially the fault of the law.”
The Mission Bay Park Master Plan, a development outline for the area that City Council and the California Coastal Commission accepted in 1994, should be guiding development, Frye said.
“Part of [the park] should be for the public. Part should be for critters,” she said. “It’s a balanced plan.”
The city needs to correct problems Real Estate Assets created when it was managing Mission Bay Park, said Frye. A 2005 audit of the scandal-plagued department revealed widespread mismanagement, including incomplete inventories, outdated computers and a lack of clearly defined policies. Griffith later resigned.
The goal, said Frye, is to bring the survey before City Council’s Natural Resources and Culture Committee, which she chairs.
The city is still about a year away from weighing in on the general redevelopment of Fiesta Island.
The Master Plan serves as the guideline for the redevelopment of the rustic area. When the plan was created 12 years ago, it didn’t include designated areas for dogs.
At a recent public workshop on the future of the island, more than 400 participants identified leash-free areas for dogs as their main use for the area.
“We’re working to accommodate [the demand for dogs],” said Michael Singleton, a consultant with KTU+A, the firm the city hired to complete the project.
Other popular requests include enclosed dog areas, improved bike lanes, hiking trails, a multi-use trail and enhanced wildlife areas.
Sixty-two percent of residents who completed a questionnaire on how they use the park and what they would like to see there indicated they would like to leave the island largely as it is.
“Leaving it as it is isn’t really an option,” Singleton said. However, the radical changes that many San Diegans fear also are not a possibility. Singleton stressed that though the project is referred to as a redevelopment plan, it will not involve building hotels and other commercial structures on the island’s sandy shores.
The approximately 800 questionnaires the project planners received reflect the wishes of existing users, but don’t include the opinions of prospective users, said acting MBPC chairperson Bob Ottilie.
“We’re getting skewed results. It’s not what the community wants; it’s what existing users want,” he said.
“At the end of the day, there’s going to have to be changes. The goal is changes that will enhance use,” Ottilie said.
Though the Fourth of July Fourth has come and gone, the discussion about whether alcohol should be allowed on the beaches continues. Alcohol-related concerns, including a proposed ban and an alcohol task force, dominated a recent town hall meeting.
This past Independence Day was the final phase of Chief of Police William Lansdowne’s three-year plan to change the culture of the boisterous celebration with increased enforcement and education.
Critics of the event believe the city spends too much on the heightened police presence. Overtime costs during this year’s holiday were $750,000, said Northern Division Capt. Boyd Long.
“Any time you take a large number of people and put them in a small area, you’re going to have problems. You’re going to need the police,” Long said.
“Overall we’ve been successful,” he continued. “Now people know what’s acceptable on the Fourth of July.”
He credited Mayor Jerry Sanders’ media messages on beach rules and regulations for the “drastic reduction in alcohol violations.”
The police department is still compiling data on the number of arrests and citations and plans to discuss the results with the committee at a later meeting.
Turning its attention toward water quality, committee members questioned the delay between recent sewage spills and beach closures.
Daily readings of the San Diego’s 106 testing stations, including 18 in Mission Bay, did not detect evidence of a spill.
“There was no smoking gun,” said senior park ranger Michael Ruiz. Warnings were posted as soon as bacteria levels exceeded standards, he said.
There was public knowledge of the spill before the postings, noted Swink.
A tidal flush in the south part of the bay could have affected readings, said member-at-large Mike Pallamary.
In response to questions on why there are no testing stations at boating facilities, where waste could be dumped, Ruiz said testing is aimed at storm drains.
Testing stations are within 75 feet of storm drains and swimming areas.
Ryan Levinson, representing MBPC Council District 6, questioned why the city’s municipal code doesn’t address horses. The animals “do their business,” he said, “wherever they want,” including areas where children play.
“Whether it be a dog or horse, everyone should pick up after their [animals],” Ruiz said.
In other park news, about 95 percent of beachgoers are complying with a new smoking ban on city beaches and bays, said Jake Orbin, filling in for Mission Bay Park Manager Susan Gonzales, who was on vacation. The ban will be amended to include boardwalks, he added.
The committee voted not to approve a San Diego Humane Society dog walk in Crown Point because the event would have exceed the time limit outlined in its permit policy.
Some committee members questioned whether Crown Point was the appropriate venue and asked why Fiesta Island could not be used instead.
Bumpy trails on the island pose challenges for the elderly and disabled participants, said Dr. Mark Goldstein of the San Diego Humane Society.
The advisory body voted to grant events special consideration if they could demonstrate special circumstances.
The committee approved the permit for the San Diego Beach Softball Club’s Sept. 23 Over-the-Line tournament as well as a new lifeguard headquarters boat dock replacement project at Quivira Basin.
The MBPC will hold its next meeting at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 3. The location will be announced prior to the meeting.