Mayor’s Office Calls for ‘Temporary Hold’ to Disruption of Point Loma Bike Track

Housing Commission Asks Residents to Stay Off Track Until Meeting Between All Parties

Mayor Faulconer’s office has called for a temporary halt on any further disruption to the Point Loma bicycle track, called the Famosa Pump Track.  This came out of a meeting between the Mayor’s office, Councilwoman Lori Zapf’s office and the San Diego Housing Commission held Tuesday, March 20.

In messages to various local residents involved in the “stand-off” between the neighborhood, the city and the Housing Commission over the community-built track, Anthony George of the Mayor’s Office stated they have asked the Housing Commission “to temporarily hold off on any maintenance on the land until we can get everyone to the table for a conversation about the realities of this lot and how we may move forward with this.”

George said his office will be organizing a meeting between all the parties to resolve the issues and controversies over the track and the land.

George further iterated in his message that the Housing Commission has agreed not to do anything to the land in the interim, but that the Housing Commission is asking people to keep off the tracks, “as a courtesy”, until the meeting.

How this will all play out remains to be seen. This reporter doubts that the kids got the message.

The OB Rag confirmed yesterday that it was the Housing Commission that had ordered Benchmark Landscape to plow under the bike track. Benchmark workers and a bobcat showed up at the site Monday morning but were physically blocked from continuing their work after a few local residents mobilized in response.

In addition, local residents have voiced their concerns to this reporter that – first, the Housing Commission has been using the excuse they are about to build housing on the site for years in order to tear down any bike tracks in the location. And now they’re doing it again. They’re not about to build anything, residents say.

Also, residents doubt whether housing could actually be built there – mainly due to the terrific drainage problems any construction would face. One local told me, if it wasn’t for the road the land would be part of Famosa Slough, and that after every good rain, the gullies fill up with water. Another participant in the stand-off said any efforts to build there and deal with the drainage would be cost-prohibitive.

George from the Mayor’s office, also stated the Housing Commission is in the process of doing a feasibility study for construction, which is about 80% completed, he said. But the rest will take up to a year to finish.