The meeting on what some call the “City’s flawed De Anza plans” is about to happen, as the City presents its proposals before the Mission Bay Park Committee on Tuesday, December 5, at Mission Bay High School, at 6pm (2475 Grand Avenue, San Diego 92109).
This is a continuation of the meeting originally scheduled for November 7th but which was cancelled at the very last minute.
The OB Rag was waving the flag at the time trying to get the attention of OBceans and Point Lomans to get involved in planning in OB’s neglected “side yard” – Mission Bay, “It’s time for Ocean Beach and Point Loma to pay attention to Mission Bay“. Important decisions are coming right up – and they will affect everyone in the surrounding communities.
Why now? Here is our earlier report:
… the City of San Diego is presenting plans to develop the northeast portion of the Bay and not everyone is happy with them.
At the upcoming Mission Bay Park Planning Committee … the City will present two draft plans for the “revitalization” of De Anza Point as an action item for adoption by the Committee.
Yet San Diego Audubon says the City’s plans are shortsighted in their approach to addressing sea level rise in Mission Bay, they will not significantly improve water quality in the bay, and they fail to safeguard endangered species from the impacts of climate change.
According to the Audubon Society:
Mission Bay’s wetlands supply habitat for hundreds of local wildlife species, protect San Diego from climate change impacts such as flooding, and improve water quality. The City’s two alternatives are missing the long-term view to ensure wetlands can continue to create cleaner water, buffer communities from sea level rise, provide habitat for wildlife, and get people into nature.
Aren’t there already plans for Mission Bay in place? Audubon Society says:
According to the City’s Mission Bay Park Master Plan, which serves as the guiding document for the City of San Diego’s De Anza Revitalization Plan, planning for this area must include wetlands restoration and improvements aimed at protecting those marsh areas.
Audubon says to adequately protect wetlands in Mission Bay, the City would need to dedicate at least 200 acres of this planning area — less than five percent of Mission Bay — to habitat. The plans currently only have around 30 – 40 acres set aside for wetlands, increasing the less than two percent of wetlands in the bay to only less than three percent.
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 the De Anza Cove will directly impact how ReWild is able to restore the sensitive wetlands in the Northeast of Mission Bay.
The OB Rag has been covering these issues of late, so for background, see these:
San Diego Audubon Critical of City’s New Options for DeAnza Cove in Mission Bay
Restaurant Moving Into the Old Mission Bay Visitors’ Center
Storms Brewing Over Mission Bay
ReWild Mission Bay Unveils Options to Restore Up to 170 Acres of Wetlands
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