The best redevelopment plan for Fiesta Island is no plan, said hundreds of participants in a public workshop, 5 to 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 16, at Mission Valley Library, 2123 Fenton Parkway.
Proposed developments for the sandy expanse of land in Mission Bay Park include grassy parks, bike trails and camping for recreational vehicles.
The island is perfect the way it is, said the overwhelming majority of participants. Dog owners were especially vocal that the desolate, undeveloped island is one of the best places in San Diego for man’s best friend.
Acknowledging that Fiesta Island is “stark, bleak even,” Esther Hofer of Normal Heights said the arid area is one of the few leash-free places where she can take her 3-year-old Newfoundland.
“I like it kind of rustic and undeveloped. The dogs don’t care,” she said.
“It’s our last little bit of freedom,” Hofer added.
Most of the participants echoed her idea of leaving Fiesta Island alone.
“They want to take a place they’ve made and ruin it,” said Allen Greenwood, who remembers Fiesta Island when it was called Ducksville and surrounded by sea bass, flounder and covered in eel grass
That was before the city began dredging the area from 1948 to 1961, creating the bays and land masses that make up the man-made island.
The city is now entering a new phase outlined in the Mission Bay Park Master Plan, a guideline for development of the aquatic park accepted by City Council in 1994 and approved by the California Coastal Commission.
KTU+A, the firm the city has hired to complete the redevelopment project, has devised three possible plans for the area.
One alternative focuses on avoiding environmental impact. Fiesta Island is home to nesting least terns as well as wetlands and other ecologically fragile habitats.
A second option conforms to the criteria outlined in the Master Plan and a third alternative is a modified version of the Master Plan.
None of the three plans address the demand for leash-free areas for dogs, said Michael Singleton, a consultant with KTU+A. When the plan was developed in the 1990s, it didn’t include designated areas for dogs, he said.
Unleashed areas for dogs were the No. 1 demand of workshop participants.
“We know the Master Plan has to be adjusted. We know we have to accommodate [the demand for dog areas],” Singleton said.
“This is the very first step in the process,” he added. “We’re saying this is what the Master Plan said. Given public input, we need to reconsider.”
There was no shortage of input from the approximately 400 people who attended the workshop. Participants wrote comments on Post-It notes and stuck them on oversized maps of the island.
“Where are the dogs going to go?” asked one note. Other comments included, “Don’t touch anything!” and “Leave it alone!”
Not everyone agrees that Fiesta Island is an untouched paradise.
“Staying the same is not the way it should be. It should be improved,” said Gary Vavrek of Linda Vista. “Money needs to be spent to attract more people and make it more pleasant,” he added. He does not, however, want to see that money go toward hotels and condominiums.
Hofer also expressed concern about commercial development on the island. “It’s going to look like Miami Beach. We’re going to lose the horizon and the view.”
Development is inevitable, said Rick Bussell, Council District 6 representative on the Mission Bay Park Committee (MBPC), the advisory body that oversees the popular aquatic park.
“The reality is development is going to happen. Southern California is going to be developed,” Bussell said. “So what can we do? We can try to make it intelligent.”
Public input is a key part of the process, he said.
Problems that need fixing, said Bussell, include bumpy roads, trails that pose challenges for cyclists and a lack of family-oriented recreation areas.
That very solitude is what makes Fiesta Island so singularly unique, said many opponents to the redevelopment plan.
“Here [at Fiesta Island] I’m free,” said Debra Yarberry, who brings her dogs to the island almost daily from Lemon Grove.
Praising the island’s abundance of leash-free open space, Mindy Pellessier, the MBPC’s Ocean Beach Planning Board representative said, “There’s nothing else like it in the city, especially not in the core of the city.”
She added, “Dog owners are a quiet group, but when they feel threatened, they come out. We’re going to see what the results show. Hopefully they’ll pay attention to the needs of the dog community.”
Dog owners aren’t the only group concerned redevelopment.
At the MBPC’s July meeting, water skiers who want to continue practicing their sport in the island’s Hidden Anchorage area voiced concern about the space possibly being turned over to swimmers.
Members of the Old Mission Bay Athletic Club (OMBAC), which organize the raucous Over the Line tournament, also have expressed concerned about whether redevelopment will impact how they use the island.
The current proposals are not the end, but the beginning, of the process, said Paul Jacob of the city’s Park and Recreation Department. “What we’re doing here is a planning process. What we build is decided here. When we build is decided by City Council.”
Before City Council says “when,” Singleton will review public input from the workshop and a questionnaire, revise his proposals and present them to the MBPC. The committee will then make its recommendation to City Council.
“It’s at least a year process,” Singleton said.