A lot transpired in Mission and Pacific beaches in 2015, and the year kicked off in January with a new 2nd District councilmember — Lorie Zapf — as well as a new environmentally sustainable approach to community development with the creation of a waterfront ecodistrict.
Following is a month-by-month account of what happened last year as chronicled in the Beach & Bay Press: JANUARY – Zapf grabbed a tiger by the tail early on in pledging to craft a “new policy for Short-Term Vacation Rentals (STVRs) to protect neighborhood residents.” Whether or not, and how much, to rein in sometimes problematic STVRs led to a titanic struggle between those in the real estate industry, arguing they were a cornerstone of the local economy, and some residents favoring their exclusion entirely from single-family neighborhoods. Zapf also announced her intent to “lead the charge” on plans for potential new uses for the De Anza Special Study Area, including De Anza Cove Park. – Controversy carried over from the previous year concerning SeaWorld’s plan to nearly double the size of its orca enclosure with its “Blue World Project.” Animal-rights activists, in the aftermath of the “Blackfish” documentary calling into question SeaWorld’s commercial business practices, took the initiative in mounting a public campaign alleging the marine park was exploiting orcas by using them in commercial shows. – City Council Jan. 20 voted 8-1 in favor of a package of amendments to medical marijuana regulations that established a minimum $1,100 fee for annual operating permits. Activists on Jan. 19 raised awareness of climate change by drawing chalk lines along the Mission Boulevard sidewalk in Mission Beach representing the hight-tide floodline projected to occur within the next 35 years by scientists. FEBRUARY – A former PB resident, Kevin Bollaert, was convicted Feb. 2 of six extortion and 21 identity theft charges in connection with a “revenge porn” website he maintained on which he displayed photos of naked women from whom he charged fees to have those photos deleted. He faced 20 years in prison for the 27 guilty verdicts he received. – Pacific Beach Planning Group weighed in on planning for the Mission Bay Gateway project, asking the city to fund a three-year process for planning for De Anza Cove following a $3.6-million settlement between the city and residents of the 500-unit De Anza Cove Resort mobile-home park allowing them to relocate. – Oceana Coastal Kitchen, a new 8,200-square-foot indoor-outdoor California cuisine restaurant, opened at the Catamaran Resort Hotel in PB. MARCH
– About to lose the Pacific Beach Community Garden site at Roosevelt Avenue and Shasta Street, which has existed for 38 years, local residents began a communitywide search for new accommodations. PBPG voted to restrict short-term vacation rentals at a special meeting March 3. Taco Surf, at 4657 Mission Blvd., celebrated 25 years of their turf being on PB’s surf feeding hungry locals and tourists alike. – Owls well that ended well, thanks to the intervention of PB neighbor Judy Swanick, as three Canary Island pine trees inhabited by barn owls on Felspar Street were spared from being chopped down. Turns out those trees weren’t the “culprits” after all in roots undermining area sidewalks. – SeaWorld worked overtime rescuing and rehabbing more than 500 malnourished and dehydrated sea lions — more than double the usual number — who were stranded largely due to unseasonably warm waters that drove the marine mammals’ usual prey into deeper, cooler waters that they could not reach. – Mission Bay High teacher Dr. Ron Lancia was honored by the San Diego Unified School District (SDUSD) as its High School Teacher of the Year for his many contributions, including establishment of the high school’s ACES after-school tutoring program. Speaking of schools, SDUSD also began taking public input on a proposal for a pre-Labor Day school start date in fall 2016. APRIL
– The City Council took the plunge April 6 in voting 7-2 to approve an amended lease agreement for long-term operation and maintenance of Belmont Park, including the historic Plunge pool and Giant Dipper wooden roller coaster in Mission Beach. District 2 Councilmember Lorie Zapf described the negotiated settlement as “a better deal for taxpayers.” – Also in Belmont Park, rooftop restaurant Cannonball opened April 1 following a $3.5-million building renovation, making a big splash with sushi and Pacific Rim cuisine. – Discover PB business improvement district honored these establishments in its annual business awards: Newbie Award, Iron Pig Alehouse; Design and Improvement Award, The Point at Ingraham; Heart of PB Award, PB Shore Club; Outstanding Volunteers, Eddie Okino and Joe Dodd; Outstanding Beachfest Volunteer, Karl Jaedtke; Community Spirit Award, Paul Falcone; and Community Patron Award, hotelier Elvin Lai. – On April 16, Mission Beach High School officially opened its new 2,400-seat, $15.9 million stadium complex after more than a year of construction. The facility includes a football/soccer field, track, softball field and bleachers.
n San Diego Mission Bay Boat and Ski Club celebrated its 75th anniversary April 26. MAY – Food trucks came to PB to provide portable eats Wednesdays from 5 to 9 p.m. at 875 Garnet Ave. in the ACE parking lot. – OMBAC held its annual concert at Mariner’s Point on May 9. – The second annual Taste of Mission Beach fundraiser for the Play by the Bay project to upgrade playground equipment at Bonita Cove went down May 14. – On May 19, 27 local eateries were featured at the annual PB Restaurant Walk. Olive Cafe celebrated its 10th anniversary in Mission Beach on May 12. – The ink on the lease extension for Belmont Park approved by the City Council the previous month was barely dry when attorney Corey Briggs, a familiar foe of the city, filed a lawsuit in Superior Court May 11 seeking to invalidate it. – A joint-occupancy agreement with San Diego Unified School District (SDUSD) was announced to build a new YMCA and recreational facilities for an estimated $15 million at Pacific Beach Middle School. Discussions have been ongoing since 2009 between Peninsula Family YMCA and SDUSD to develop a joint-occupancy facility for, among other things, operation and maintenance of recreation facilities and a community center at PB Middle School. – San Diego’s Bike to Work Day May 29, with pit stops in PB, encouraged locals to get onto their bikes and become less auto-dependent to help the environment and live healthier lives. JUNE
– Overriding opposition from PBPG, the city Planning Commission voted 4-0 to approve a medical marijuana dispensary in a hard-to-access location at 4645 DeSoto St. The City Council’s Smart Growth and Land Use (SG&LU) Committee directed staff to return with a new draft ordinance on STVRs better defining and more strictly controlling them. PB artist Autumn Love was profiled for her positive “chalk messages” on the boardwalk. – On the business front, Carl’s Jr. closed on Garnet Avenue, to be replaced by a new Mexican restaurant. Good Time Charlie’s restaurant/bar on Grand Avenue closed, and the old China Inn site was being redeveloped by Mark Oliver, formerly of George’s La Jolla, into a new more upscale eatery. – Mission Bay High’s Class of 2015 graduated 229 students. Belmont Park’s Giant Dipper wooden roller coaster turned 90. Mission Beach’s WaveHouse celebrated the 10-year anniversary of its famous wave machines by hosting the U.S. Open of Flowboarding competition, awarding $10,000 in cash prizes. – Redevelopment of Wesley Palms retirement community at 2404 Loring St. on Mount Soledad began. Crown Point Junior Music Academy in PB earned the SupportMusic Merit Award, given to individual schools that demonstrate outstanding achievement in efforts to provide music access and education to students. JULY
– The annual Brazil Day fest in September got a no vote from the Pacific Beach Special Events Committee, which said the event was growing too large with too much noise and disruption. The committee, however, reconsidered its decision after the city stepped in. Further concessions were agreed to by event promoters. The carnival-style parade features vibrant floats, extravagant costumes and energetic music as well as Latin cuisine. – A victim of a drug overdose was found in the new Law Street bathrooms, prompting local reconsideration of beach security. San Diego Coastkeeper celebrated its 20th anniversary protecting the county’s waters. Over-the-Line continued its tradition of sun and fun with the 62nd annual OTL tournament on back-to-back weekends July 11 and 12 and 18 and 19. – Maruta Garner, Mission Beach’s “graffiti eradictor,” was profiled in BBP for her dedicated, painstaking work in removing graffiti from the boardwalk in Mission and Pacific beaches. – PB AleHouse, at 721 Grand Ave., reopened five months after a kitchen fire. The third annual North PB Sip ‘N Stroll hyper-local Pacific Beach street fair promoted local businesses. Concerts on the Green returned to Kate Sessions Park. – San Diego City Council voted to support a zero-waste plan with the goal of diverting 75 percent of the waste generated in the city away from landfill disposal by 2020.
n Pacific Beach Planning Group voted unanimously to adamantly protest the siting of three DecoBike stations on the boardwalk. Miami-based DecoBike has a contract with the city to provide public bikesharing at 180 separate stations citywide. – Belmont Park’s owners announced plans to raze the historic Plunge Pool, built in the ’20s, and to rebuild it with a new state-of-the-art facility. Some who feel SeaWorld’s nightly summertime fireworks displays are a danger to wildlife and the environment renewed a petition drive calling upon the marine mammal park to end their pyrotechnic displays. – The Junior Lifeguard Foundation proposed building a new headquarters in Mission Beach. Computer designs for a new lifeguard tower planned at Law Street were unveiled at Pacific Beach Planning Group. AUGUST
– Local lifeguards showed off their rescue skills at the annual Ron Trenton Memorial Lifeguard Relays on Aug. 6. Crews were out installing way finding road markers throughout PB as part of the PB Pathways project. Sponsored by beautifulPB, PB Pathways is a network of safe neighborhood routes encouraging people to walk, bike or skate to their destinations with traffic calming and other safety features. – An environmental impact report for a total of 51 condo units proposed on the old Mission Beach Elementary School site found significant — but remediable — impacts on noise, health and safety, historical resources, transportation circulation and parking and land use. – Iconic 60-year-old Saska’s Steak & Seafood in MB was sold to Patio Restaurant Group, owned by entrepreneur Gina Champion-Cain, who also owns Luv San Diego Surf and Patio restaurants. The annual Fur Ball raised funds for the San Diego Humane Society, furthering its mission of saving and protecting animals. – Psychic Sarah Renee shared her “special gift” in a BBP Lifestyles feature. The city drafted new regulations in an attempt to rein in the ongoing proliferation of STVRs. An increasing number of bike thefts in Pacific Beach had members of the community on alert and on edge. – A brief but colorful flap ensued when PB Elementary was painted a “too blue” color, in the eyes of some, over summer school break. The end result was that the school was repainted with a more neutral — and less conspicuous — beige tone. SEPTEMBER
– PB couple Dennis and Joylyn Darnell, inventors of a “better flytrap,” unveiled their innovation in a BBP profile. The eighth annual Brazilian Day was held Sept. 13. – Shane Hardin, the son of the late Mike “Boss Man” Hardin, announced he would be moving forward with Hodad’s, the family’s renowned, locally grown, iconic burger place. – Staples and a relocated Trader Joe’s opened after several months of construction in the strip mall at 1650 Garnet Ave. between Jewell and Ingraham streets. – Lee Fowler Schwimmer of PB was profiled in a BBP feature extolling the virtues of her little lending library she set up in front of her home on Diamond and Dawes streets. – Mission Beach Precise Planning Board voted 8-0-2 against turning the former Mission Beach Elementary School property into residences due to perceived violations of the beach community’s Planned District Ordinance, its blueprint for development. – Kevin Bollaert of PB was sentenced to an 18-year jail term for the “revenge porn” site he operated publishing photos of naked women without their permission. A judge temporarily halted construction of the South Mission Beach Lifeguard Station after a lawsuit was filed by MB resident Ken Giavara, who argued the station wasn’t properly vetted and needs to be reconsidered. – Non-air-conditioned schools in PB and elsewhere along the beachfront became a major focus of attention after a late-summer heat wave left students and staff roasting. The school district reactivated its school-closing protocol for non-air-conditioned schools as well as discussing plans to accelerate phased installation of air conditioning in its 2,000 hottest classrooms. OCTOBER – Preliminary plans surfaced discussing the possibility of the Mid-Coast Trolley proposed between Old Town and UTC eventually extending into PB. St. Maximilian Kolbe Roman Catholic Church celebrated the 20th anniversary of its Polish Festival Oct. 9 and 10 at the church, at 1735 Grand Ave. – SeaWorld hit a snag with plans to double the size of its orca enclosure when the California Coastal Commission attached several conditions to approval of its larger tanks, including one forbidding use of wild orcas. – Retired Realtor Susie Shippey was featured in a BBP profile discussing her art on utility boxes, like that outside PB’s library. NOVEMBER – Word began to circulate that a building El Nino in the Pacific could lead to an extraordinarily wet winter with attendant flooding. SeaWorld reported sinking revenues for the lease it holds with the city on its Mission Bay property. Later in the month, apparently bowing to public pressure, SeaWorld also announced plans to phase out its orca shows and to replace them with a “more natural” whale experience starting in 2017. – A startling “lightning strike” captured by photographer Matt Aden graced the Nov. 5 cover of BBP. – A fugitive from Missouri was killed in an officer-involved shooting in the 1700 block of Garnet Avenue on Nov. 4 after failing to respond appropriately to police direction. PB Town Council was honored by the City Council for its annual tradition of hosting Police and Emergency Services Appreciation feting first responders. DECEMBER – On Dec. 3, city planning commissioners turned thumbs down on a new proposed city-brokered ordinance attempting to curb STVRs. Commissioners directed staff to reconsider the ordinance and return to them early in 2016 with a redraft. On Dec. 7, local residents were clued in by city engineers on plans for a new trolley station at Balboa Avenue. – PB Planning Group voted 12-3-1 Dec. 1 in favor of current proposed design plans for a new, 3,500-square-foot lifeguard tower on Law Street in North Pacific Beach. – The first public meeting on a De Anza Revitalization Plan was held Dec. 9 at Mission Bay High School.