City officials gave a shoreline restoration presentation Sept. 10 at Santa Clara Recreation Center in Mission Beach, cluing coastal residents in on current planning efforts to restore shorelines throughout Mission Bay Park.
A year ago, Mayor Kevin Faulconer and park advocates announced more than $40 million in infrastructure investments for Mission Bay Park over the next six years. That will be used for environmental protection and infrastructure projects.
That announcement followed voter-approved Measure J in November 2016 directing a portion of Mission Bay lease revenue toward capital investments in Mission Bay Park and regional parks for an additional 30 years. An estimated $1.5 billion will be generated through 2069.
How to spend lease revenue funding will be determined by the Mission Bay Park Improvements Program, which currently has an environmental impact report under review.
“The Sept. 10 meeting was just to discuss the shoreline restoration portion of the EIR, not the overall EIR,” said Alec Phillipp, senior City spokesperson. “So the overall EIR and its prioritization, locations etc. weren’t discussed.”
Through voter approved initiatives (Proposition C in 2008 and Measure J in 2016), the City of San Diego created the Mission Bay Park Improvement Fund to develop, repair, and invest in assets within the park. Generally referred to as the “Ten-Year Plan” for Mission Bay Park, that plan lists priority projects including navigational and safety dredging, wetlands and water quality improvements, shoreline protection, expansion of preserves and habitat, and park facility improvements (playgrounds, comfort stations, parking lots, etc.).
Concerning public comments from the Sept. 10 meeting, Phillipp said, “Staff reported they received comments from attendees about other areas on Fiesta Island to look at for potential shoreline restoration, which they’ll take into consideration.”
The City has created two webpages specifically for the Mission Bay Park Improvement Program EIR and the projects: sandiego.gov/cip/projectinfo/mbpeir, sandiego.gov/cip/projectinfo/mbprojects.
