Latest Proposal Boosts Land for Active Recreation and Restoration of Marshland
By David Garrick / San Diego Union-Tribune / March 7, 2023
Plans to transform northeast Mission Bay into a combination of marshland, campsites and recreation areas will take a key step Tuesday, March 7, with the release of a multiyear city analysis of how the changes could affect the environment.
The 446-page analysis, which concludes the proposal wouldn’t have significant adverse impacts, allows the approval process to advance to hearings later this year before the Planning Commission and City Council. City officials also revealed Tuesday some revisions and refinements to the proposal, including one third more land for active recreation areas, a third new beach and a clubhouse that would rent non-motorized boats.
The additional land for active recreation, which includes playing fields or golf courses, comes at the expense of land for passive recreation like picnic areas, which would drop by 43 percent. Other changes include creating a second possible location for a planned wildlife interpretive center. The center could be either along the southern edge of Mission Bay High School next to restored marshland or near the shore of De Anza Cove.
Officials also cemented their support Tuesday for prioritizing restoration of marshland, which helps fight sea-level rise and boosts the revival of habitats that were destroyed when the area was aggressively dredged decades ago.
The latest proposal, which city officials call De Anza Natural, includes 219 acres of marshland and another 38 acres of dunes and environmental buffers. That’s a dramatic shift from a proposal approved in 2018 for the area by the Mission Bay Park Committee. That proposal included 120 acres of wetlands combined with more acres of camping and recreation, including a restaurant.
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