Residents will have a chance to vet proposed alternatives for the De Anza Revitalization Plan at a third public workshop 6 to 8:30 p.m. Monday, Nov. 7 at Mission Bay High School, 2474 Grand Ave.
At the workshop, the project team comprised of city staff and consultants will present draft alternatives for a re-imagining of the 120-acre De Anza project area within Mission Bay Park. The project area includes the De Anza Special Study Area (mobile home and RV park), De Anza Cove Park and the surrounding uses, including Mission Bay Golf Course, Mission Bay Boat and Ski Club, Bob McEvoy Athletic Field and Mission Bay Tennis Club.
“This meeting is going to be real exciting,” said Robin Shifflet, development project manager for the city’s Planning Department. “We’re going to show the three alternatives for (proposed) park redevelopment, based on public input we’ve received from an ad hoc committee, community meetings and public input online with our website.”
Shifflet said further discussion of regional park redevelopment will revolve around “existing conditions and potential uses. We’ve been studying how these things relate to one another.”
The park planner said it’s uncertain whether this third workshop will be the final one in the planning process, or even if one alternative will be chosen — or all three will ultimately be presented to the City Council for final long-term project approval.
The city is about midway through its three-year planning process, which seeks to update the planning blueprint for the regional park via an amendment to the Mission Bay Master Plan guiding park development.
“We are amending the Mission Bay Park Master Plan to show what could be developed in the De Anza future study area,” said Shifflet. “Once we hear back from the public, we’ll know what amendments people want to the park master plan. That will go to the City Council for approval, and then on to the Coastal Commission.”
Following that, Shifflet said an environmental document will be prepared for the long-term project to determine “what impacts to the environment there be from the project.”
Led by the City of San Diego, the De Anza Revitalization Plan project seeks to re-imagine, repurpose and revitalize De Anza and the surrounding area. The plan’s ultimate goal is to create an iconic recreation destination that maximizes the benefit offered to the region by this extraordinary waterfront amenity that balances recreation, environment and commerce.
The effort to redevelop the regional park was delayed by a decade-long court battle between the city and residents of the 500-unit De Anza Cove Resort mobile home park, a 75-acre park on prime real estate jutting into the water in Mission Bay Park west of Interstate 5. Ultimately, the city reached a $3.6 million settlement agreement on one of three lawsuits involving current and former mobile home park residents, allowing them to relocate.
For more information about the plan and the process, visit DeAnzaRevitalizationPlan.com.