The Mission Bay Park Committee (MBPC) welcomed seven new members as it discussed Fourth of July police activity, whether the city will consider park wetlands land or water and the future of Fiesta Island at its July 10 meeting at the Bahia Resort Hotel, 998 W. Mission Bay Drive.
New to the committee are Lessee Hotel Representative Jim Green, Council District 6 Representative Monica Fuentes, members at large Mike Dukor and Gregg Peterson, Bill Bushe of the Ocean Beach Planning Board, Billy Paul of the Clairemont Mesa Planning Group and Mort McCarthy, who is representing the park’s non-hotel lessees.
The two most recently appointed members, Jeton Prince and Jarl Turner, will participate in the committee’s Sept. 11 meeting, pending City Council confirmation.
Returning members include Pamela Glover of the Mission Beach Planning Board, Council District 2 Representatives Karl Jaedtke and Judy Swink, Richard Miller of the Sierra Club, Don Peterson of the Old Mission Beach Athletic Club (OMBAC) and chairperson Rick Bussell.
“I really see my role as that of a facilitator,” Bussell told the group.
Bussell said community involvement is one of his top priorities.
“I want as many people as possible from San Diego to be involved in the process,” he said. “It’s a matter of stewardship. This is our park.”
An estimated 1.8 million people participated in Fourth of July celebrations on Mission Bay and area beaches, and Sgt. Mark Heacox of the Mission Bay Harbor Unit reported that the number of arrests was “pretty much the same” as previous years, except for misdemeanor arrests, which more than doubled.
The 967 reported arrests included 23 felony arrests, 799 misdemeanor arrests resulting in citations and 145 misdemeanor arrests resulting in jail time. The majority of citations were due to alcohol on the boardwalk, Heacox said. An additional 112 individuals were sent to detoxification centers for public intoxication. Traffic and parking citations and vehicle impounds accounted for 2,367 citations.
“We survived and we couldn’t have done it without our volunteers,” said Kathleen Hasenauer, Acting Deputy Director for Developing Regional Parks. Although data are still being compiled, Hasenauer estimated the city and volunteers removed 110 tons of garbage from Mission Bay Park.
Discussion turned to the recent arson attacks in the park, including the burning of 75 portable restrooms, with Hasenauer theorizing that the same person who has been burning palm trees in the park may be responsible.
The MBPC plans to conduct a more in-depth review of how the city managed the holiday at a later meeting.
In an effort to prevent crime in the beach areas, the city is installing new streetlights at El Carmel Place and the grassy area near Belmont Park. The Mission Beach Town Council (MBTC) initiated the grant application process to fund four high-pressure sodium lights. Donations from the Mission Beach Women’s Club will pay for two additional lights.
“We’ve needed this for a long time,” said Glover, the Mission Beach Planning Board representative.
Turning its attention back to Mission Bay Park, the park heard from Beth Murray from Mayor Jerry Sander’s office on whether the city will count the park’s wetlands as land or water acreage.
In a city-commissioned survey of the park conducted by Project Design Consultants in 2000, total park acreage shrunk by almost 14 acres “” while land grew by almost 50 acres and water by 70 acres from that reported in 1994. The changes are significant because, under a 1987 amendment to the city charter, no more than 25 percent of Mission Bay Park can be devoted to commercial and nonprofit leases such as hotels and SeaWorld.
The roughly 4,200-acre park is approximately 46 percent land and 54 percent water. The land boost makes would make12 additional acres available to developers. Because the federal government strictly regulates wetlands development, further commercial leases would be built on what is currently public parkland.
City Council was slated to discuss the definition of water on May 15, but Sanders removed it from the docket.
City staff needed more time to familiarize itself with the issue, Murray said.
“We didn’t just come up with more land,” Murray said of the 2000 survey. The change in land and water acreage resulted, she said, because surveyors used the mean tide line to determine what was land and what was water. Although the practice is relatively common, it does not take into account the quality of land and water, Murray said.
The mayor’s office has decided to use the land and acreage numbers established before the 2000 survey.
Councilwoman Donna Frye, who worked to get the wetlands issue placed on the docket, would like City Attorney Mike Aguirre to establish firm definitions for water and wetlands so the current standards remain in place.
Concerns about development are unnecessary, according to Murray.
“There’s no way development could happen in those areas,” she said. The Mission Bay Park Master Plan, which was approved by both City Council and the California Coastal Commission, calls for wetlands expansion.
“Nothing can happen unless it complies with the master plan,” said Murray.
Commercial development in the park is considered both a blessing and a curse, depending on who you talk to.
“This is Mission Bay Park, not Mission Bay commercial development area,” said Paul, the newly appointed representative from Clairemont. The 25 percent development cap outlined in City Charter 55.1 is “a limit, not a goal,” he added.
“Commercial uses are just as important as non-commercial uses,” said McCarthy, recently appointed to represent the park’s non-hotel lessees. Many of Mission Bay Park’s users flock to the park to enjoy the area’s hotels, marinas and other commercial properties as well as to use parkland, he said.
“There’s a balance between the kinds of users. It’s our job to maintain that balance,” McCarthy said.
“We have a cooperative relationship,” said Bussell.
Lease revenues and other park profits fund the capital improvement projects outlined in the master plan. “We need each other to exist,” Bussell said.
One of the projects outlined in the master plan is the redevelopment of Fiesta Island. Dog owners have been particularly vocal for some months that the barren, expansive island should be left as is. Several members of Fiesta Island Dog Owners (FIDO) stressed the need to preserve the area, which is especially ideal for large dogs.
“Fiesta Island is one of the most important things this committee will ever do in its life cycle,” Bussell said.
Traditionally dark in August, the MBPC will hold its next meeting Sept. 11. The location information will be announced.