In the third of four public workshops held Nov. 7 at Mission Bay High School, beach residents were clued in on three draft options for the restoration of De Anza Cove.
Ongoing public discussion is continuing on the De Anza Revitalization Plan entailing three years of comprehensive outreach and planning to re-imagine, repurpose and revitalize that 120-acre area within Mission Bay Park.
City staff, consultants, the community and stakeholders have been working together for more than a year to develop conceptual alternatives that lead to a preferred plan, an amendment to the Mission Bay Park Master Plan, and an environmental impact report (EIR). Eight original park redevelopment alternatives have since been whittled down to three.
Mission Bay attracts more than 14 million visitors annually, and its wetlands supply habitat for hundreds of local wildlife species, including protecting San Diego from climate change impacts such as flooding, as well as restoring — and improving — the region’s water quality. “We anticipate there could be one more public workshop,” said Robin Shifflet, development project manager with the city’s Planning Department about what comes next with De Anza. She added, “We have online engagement at our website at www.deanzarevitalizationplan.com.”
On that website, Shifflet said the public can continue to give input on the three offered alternatives — even create a new alternative hybrid option of their own.
“We’re (city’s) really interested in hearing from everyone,” said Shifflet noting, “Everyone wants to put everything on this acreage. It’s a real balancing act as to what is (eventually) put on this site. Since it’s a regional park, we have to recognize uses that benefit everyone, not just a certain group.”
Shifflet said the city will be combing through the voluminous public input taken over the past year and return sometime early in 2017 with “two or three options” it wants the community to consider moving forward with.
“That will determine how Mission Bay Park Master Plan is amended for this area of the park,” said Shifflet adding, “Right now is just a great opportunity for everyone to weigh-in.”
Concerning future De Anza developments, Brian Curry, chair of Pacific Beach Planning Group (PBPG) said, “The PBPG will be discussing the three De Anza alternatives at our next meeting Nov. 30. We plan to take action and provide an advisory letter relative to the De Anza land use with our recommendations. We strongly support active public recreational use for all members of the public, with special emphasis on our youth.”
ReWild Mission Bay, a project of San Diego Audubon to enhance and restore up to 170 acres of wetlands in the northeast corner of Mission Bay, overlaps with the De Anza Revitalization Plan. How the City chooses to revitalize De Anza Cove, will directly impact how the sensitive wetlands in the North East corner are restored. “The goal of ReWild Mission Bay is to achieve a bay that has a healthy balance of environmental protection and recreation, as it is called for in the City’s Mission Bay Master Plan,” said San Diego Audubon director of conservation Rebecca Schwartz. “We would like to see the north east corner of Mission Bay have healthy wetlands that restore water quality, guard against sea level rise and provide habitat for our wildlife and a natural environment for residents to enjoy.” what’s next? Fall 2016: Public workshop No. 4; ad-hoc committee meeting No. 7. Winter 2016: Refine draft preferred Revitalization Plan and Develop Mission Bay Park Master Plan amendments; revised draft preferred Revitalization Plan and start of CEQA process. Spring 2017: Prepare EIR, final draft Revitalization Plan, and Mission Bay Park Master Plan amendments; estimated adoption of the De Anza Revitalization Plan, Mission Bay Park Master Plan amendments.