Peninsula Planners’ Ad Hoc Committee to Present City With Request for Alternative Site for H Barracks at Meeting Thurs., Nov.16

by Dave Schwab / sdnews.com / November 14, 2023

Concerns were vetted, and the mayor’s office fielded questions, about the City’s proposed conversion of the H Barracks site near Liberty Station for homelessness services at a Peninsula Community Planning Board committee meeting on Nov. 9. Kohta Zaiser, deputy director of community engagement for the mayor’s office, presented on the project and held a Q&A with the planning group’s Ad Hoc Committee.

The five-member committee later deliberated voting 3-2 to draft a letter, to be considered at Peninsula Community Planning Board’s Nov. 16 meeting at Point Loma/ Hervey Branch Library, recommending the City seek an alternative location other than H Barracks because the community consensus is that that site is unsuitable for homelessness services for numerous reasons.

H Barracks is City-owned industrial land off North Harbor Drive between Kincaid Road and McCain Road, south of the San Diego International Airport and east of two hotels. The site has served as a police and fire department training facility and was identified as a potential candidate to accommodate a homeless shelter and services. The training facilities are to be relocated and the site will host a Pure Water recycling facility in five years.

Ad Hoc Committee member Brad Herrin felt the decision to take a position on H Barracks was premature noting, “We haven’t reviewed the City’s (homelessness) strategy, a 40-page document.” Committee chair Mandy Havlik said the full planning board’s ultimate decision on the H Barracks proposal will be posted on the planning group’s website after the Nov. 16 public meeting.

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