By Brooke Binkowski / Times of San Diego / Dec. 16, 2023
A judge rejected a final legal challenge to Measure C Friday, clearing the way for the Midway Rising redevelopment project in the Sports Arena area.
The voter-approved measure removed the 30-foot coastal height limit for the Midway District, including the 48.5-acre Midway-Pacific Highway Community Plan area.
San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria celebrated the decision. “It’s been a monumental week for housing in San Diego,” he said.
Measure C narrowly passed in 2022. Opponents of the measure said that removing the limit would block coastal views and invite traffic congestion. Proponents countered that the development plan would benefit the entire region.
The Midway Rising plan is anticipated to offer more than 4,000 housing units, a sports arena, a park, and an entertainment and cultural arts district.
Go here for the Judge’s order.
Judge Bacal denial represents a total collapse in jurisprudence arguably failing to address the threats to public safety; the comprehensive geological evaluations that lead to the original creation of the 30ft height restriction for the Midway. The restriction arose from the soil composition of the former naturally occurring tide flats that existed for millennia and it’s centralized location on the Rose Creek Fault Line.
When Alonzo Horton purchased the land to displace downtown San Diego civic leaders did so for two very critical reasons: 1.) Solid bedrock to build upon and 2.) The ability to dredge San Diego Bay for the fledgling West Coast U.S. Navy installation and the creation of an embarcadero to accommodate cargo ships for the transfer of goods to a natural resource deprived desert landscape that is San Diego.
Why these factors are critical and why all San Diegans should find the court’s profitable, short-sided, myopic and oppressive legal decisions questionable is because they have all been arguably void of any discernible commonplace concern for public safety.
These legal decisions rendered in cases surrounding the Midway area will prove themselves demonstrably disastrous for the two reasons the 30ft height restriction imposed by the Coastal Preservation Act of 1972 included the Midway area in the first place:
1.) The soil displaced from dredging San Diego Bay was dumped to back-fill the tide flats that we refer as the “Midway” Area were layered on top of the naturally occurring loosely compacted sediment of the tidelands that existed there thousands of years prior to the founding of the first mission by Friar Junipero Sierra.
2.) The Midway area sits smack dab in the middle of the Rose Creek Fault Line
Prior to implementing the inclusion of the Midway area in the 30ft height restrictions of the Coastal Preservation Act of 1972 both seismologists and geologists submitted well founded research concluding that the loosely packed sediment in combination with the fact that the Midway area sits significantly below the water table, WILL RESULT IN LIQUEFACTION IN THE PRESENCE OF AN EARTHQUAKE OF 4.9 OR GREATER!
Based upon their research seismologist and geologists surmised that the Midway area could not conceivably, under any circumstances, safely accommodate the weight of buildings exceeding 30 feet without a tremendous threat to the residents.
Fast forward to 2020, edified locals, geologist, seismologists tried desperately and repeatedly to bring this to the City Council attention, more specifically to City Councilmember President Jen Campbell’s attention prior to the proposal to going before the Council. She literally, physically refused to listen.
It is a fact that; the only public or professional debate or discussion that took place under Campbell’s “oversight” was the Zoom meeting of the Point Loma Democratic Club. Campbell thoroughly embarrassed herself by physically extricated herself from the Zoom meeting immediately upon the first breath of scrutiny for her proposal for the removal the 30ft restrictions, and I do mean immediately.
Upon the very first question, politely posed, by Democratic Club member Mandy Havlik, Jen Campbell fabricated an overly melodramatic display replete with and incredibly misplaced false sense of outrage, using it as an excuse to literally storm out of the Zoom meeting. Despite the shock of the members of the Democratic Club, the meeting continued, without Jen Campbell.
Had Campbell shown any discernible responsibility to her constituents she would have stayed on the meeting through it’s conclusion. Campbell would have been made aware of the above listed threats to public safety. And, by the way this is a matter of public record. The video of the Zoom meeting in it’s entirety, is available. This was the only forum prior to the Council vote to bring the proposal before the voters. I is my belief that the mishandling of this procedure establish a strong case of malfeasance that could serve as the legal bases for racketeering charges as I will now expound upon.
The main factors attributed to the Recall Jen Campaign was her dismissive attitude toward all public safety issues specifically her and her staff’s refusal to engage with her constituents and the public about anything critical of her own personal agenda. (talking to you Michael Smollins)
At the time Jen Campbell exploited the cover of the protracted public emergency of the pandemic as subterfuge to ram this proposal through the San Diego City Council to get it on the ballot, then Council President Jen Campbell, refused to allow any testimony my seismologists, geologists, nor any member of the public for that matter in opposition prior to the vote to place what became Measure C and placed on the ballot. Furthermore, conveniently City TV was removed from Spectrum Cable subscribers that represent the largest number of San Diegans; while the Cox Cable subscribers experienced no difficulty with the City TV coverage of the meeting. We went up the chain of management with Spectrum and the technical director confirmed that the City Council feed was shut off, and there existed no technical difficulties with Spectrum cable equipment what-so-ever. I believe this issue alone, but especially in the context of other highly dubious conduct, decisions, and closed door meetings including but not limited to 101 Ash Street serve as legitimate grounds to grounds to convene a Grand Jury investigation.
Thank you for the extensive explanation about the geological aspects of the Midway area. I had no idea about the history of backfilling the tide flats – makes total sense. Sadly, I’m not surprised about Jen Campbell’s resistance to having an open and honest discussion about this very subject. Both she and Mayor Gloria have demonstrated their commitment to development over preservation of community and safety.
Mateo – can you post a link or other resource to the back-filling of the tidal flats?
Hi, Frank. I have my own questions re the statement of the Midway area being built up from dredge spoil during the creation of Mission Bay Park. I don’t see how that would have been possible because of the 1870s U.S. government dike (now the basis of I-8 west of I-5) to make permanent the route of the San Diego River into Mission Bay.
In addition, the Sports Arena/Midway area was the site of WW II war worker housing in the early 1940s (Frontier Housing), most assuredly not built on mud flats. Frontier Housing mostly continued to exist until the early 1960s after the City bought the housing from the U.S. government to help with shortages in San Diego brought about by so many war workers choosing to remain in San Diego after the war ended.
There once were substantial mud flats in the southeast quarter of Mission Bay (remember Duckville fishing & hunting camps?), north of the dike & I-8, which were variously dredged and ‘filled’ after the landfill at South Shores was closed in 1959. The landfill was actively used from 1952-1959, the time period when the greatest amount of dredging was going on. The angle of I-5 and I-8 roughly outline that quadrant.
Judy, two wholly different projects separated by about 70+ years. I wrote about dredging San Diego Bay and never wrote anything about the dredging Mission Bay in my post.
You are absolutely correct Dear, Mission Bay was dredged, filling in the tide flats around Mission Bay for what became Mission Bay parkland and Sea World, in the 1950’s and early 1960’s. But not at all what I referred to and am referring to now.
San Diego Bay was dredged for the creation of the harbor and the embarcadero located along San Diego Bay, during and following the relocation of San Diego from what we refer to as Old Town to the current downtown San Diego location. Civic leaders did so to better accommodate critically important cargo ships bringing of lumber and building supplies to a natural resource starved desert community and fishing town that was San Diego and to harbor a fledgling West Coast Navy. Alonzo Horton purchased the land under downtown because San Diego Bay was and and is topographically deeper adjacent to downtown as opposed to the shallow tidelands of the northeast elbow of San Diego Bay that were marsh lands and tide flats made up of sediment fed by the incoming and outgoing tides and at times the southern most end of the San Diego River.
Thousands of years of naturally occurring sediment is what accounts for the geological instability of the Midway area in concert with the fact that the area sits directly on top of the Rose Creek Fault Line.
Thanks for your reply, Mateo. You weren’t clear in your post that you referred to dredge & fill on San Diego Bay. I’ve long of the dredge & fill to create MCRD and NTC back in the 19-teens and early 1920s but have never heard that dredge spoils were transported as far as the area where Frontier Housing was built though I’m sure some of the fill was spread in the area known as Dutch Flats, bordering Midway Dr. between Barnett St. (formerly Tide St. because it would flood at particularly high tides) and Rosecrans. Most, I would have expected, would have been used to build up the mudflats where MCRD and NTC were built.
I had heard somewhere that that concrete block that once was the main post office was sinking, no surprise. It’s still there and being rehabbed in some way for use in the development of the former P.O. property.
I’d be interested learning of sources regarding transport of dredge fill to the area of the Sports Arena which, to my knowledge, has not subsided despite being a very large structure.
Judy, I did write “When Alonzo Horton purchased the land to displace downtown San Diego civic leaders did so for two very critical reasons: 1.) Solid bedrock to build upon and 2.) The ability to dredge San Diego Bay for the fledgling West Coast U.S. Navy installation and the creation of an embarcadero to accommodate cargo ships for the transfer of goods to a natural resource deprived desert landscape that is San Diego.”
In all fairness, I was clear and I always try to be. I am just an engaged local with an inquisitive mind and a natural nose for research. I am not a reporter, nor an investigator, a writer, nor an editor (as well evidenced by my abundance of typos, which is mainly due to being new to reading glasses, and never knowing where I put them last, as well as not really having all the time I need to share what I have uncovered)
For this, I apologize to all my fellow Ragsters. Please go by the quantatative quality of the content I contribute and not the lack of qualtiy editing.
I do know of what I speak about when I choose to speak out. And my only agenda is doing my part to help us all once again to collectively refer to our hometown as “America’s Finest City”, with conviction.
Matteo, thanks again for your detailed response. I did see your reference to Horton’s reasons for locating New Town, I’m afraid I let my decades of involvement with Mission Bay Park redirect my attention. I also don’t recall reading MacKenzie’s article in 2020 so thanks also for the very detailed response you posted with links. I don’t know that you need to take yourself to the library or County Engineering Records to convince me.
“I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. This is why right, temporarily defeated, is stronger than evil triumphant.”
– Martin Luther King, Jr.
Judy, we’re all in this together and we’re all playing on the same team. Thank you for remaining engaged.
Frank, https://www.usgs.gov/media/images/cosmos-projection-san-diego for current starters. MacKenzie Elmer’s article “Noboady Is Talking About the Sports Arena Flood Zone.” https://voiceofsandiego.org/2020/08/19/nobodys-talking-about-the-sports-arena-flood-zone/
I am emailing you a link to the Pt Loma OB Democratic Club meeting video prior to then Measure E including the now infamous Jen Campbell meltdown, and more details are included in the email.
If I can get to the library, I believe I can dredge up (pun intended) the white papers submitted by geologists and seismologists for the Coastal Preservation Act of 1972. Furthermore I have stayed in touch with former Coastal Commission Director Dr. Charles Lester who is a tenured Natural Sciences professor specializing in California Wetlands at UC Santa Barbara, I can reach out to him too.
A trip to the County Engineering Records office can provide the earliest existing aerial survey photography from shortly after World War I that show the marsh lands and tide flats from Loma Portal to the San Diego River before the near total intradiction of the San Diego River into San Diego Bay. It has been a long time since I have seen them, like, years before the County moved into their new digs, and these are actual 6′ x 6′ enlarged reconnaissance type photos that one has to check out from the Records Dept to look at.
Can’t imagine insurance would be easy for any of this, and thought I heard of an 8′ pipe in the ground traversing through the area?
And, of course, Dutch Flats is the site of SDIA and probably much of the NavWars proposed development site, but hey,what could possibly go wrong? Liquefaction is probably just a NIMBY fiction, anyway.
BTW, someone on this site (wink wink) suggested that the land use mix was almost certainly going to change and that we would likely get less park area, but who’s counting?
While SD International Airport is largely on fill land, as is the County Administration Center, that is not where Dutch Flats was located.
“Marker is at the intersection of Midway Drive and Barnett Avenue, on the left when traveling north on Midway Drive. … Marker is at or near this postal address: 2535 Midway Dr, San Diego CA 92138, United States of America.” There’s a link within this paragraph to a map location. https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=186364
Judy, I have a lot of respect for you and your knowledge, but Dutch Flats was much bigger than the location of the marker. I have seen maps that show it encompassing much of the airport site. The maps may have been incorrect, but that’s what I have seen.
Sorry about the delay in responding. So, there may be maps showing Dutch Flat (which I’ve seen in both singular and plural form) but I found this description more consistent with the more narrow identification of Dutch Flats that the historical marker for the Midway/Barnett/MCRD/NTC site.
Although Kettner’s home at 2965 Union St. overlooked what became SD International Airport, the shoreline of the airport is closer to downtown than halfway between the coaling station (roughly, Ballast Point on the current naval submarine base) and the downtown waterfront (see quote below). We do know, however, that MCRD is adjacent to the boundary of the aiport so perhaps Dutch Flats did encompass far more than the tidal flats filled in to create MCRD and NTC.
“When Kettner visited the Exposition in mid-March at the head of the largest congressional delegation ever to come to San Diego, he met Pendleton for the first time. Over dinner one day, the colonel informed the congressman of his desire to establish his advance base in San Diego, preferably on North Island. For reasons of his own, Kettner suggested a place called Dutch Flats, part of the semi-submerged tideland located halfway between the naval coal depot on Point Loma and the downtown waterfront. The congressman claimed that his hillside home overlooked Dutch Flats, and that he had long “visualized it into a beautiful place, and wanted [his] dream to come true.”22 He did not, however, allude to his two-pronged hidden agenda with regard to this rather forlorn property. First, Kettner had already been at work for more than a year on an as-yet unannounced plan to turn Dutch Flats into a naval complex; and second, part of the tidal flat belonged to his close friends and associates who owned and operated San Diego Securities Company.” [William Kettner, Why It Was Done and How (San Diego: Frye & Smith, 1923), 52.]
It would be great to take a look at the USGS pre-1910 topo maps to see the early shoreline. I did find a 1904 map online. Go to https://ngmdb.usgs.gov/topoview/viewer/# and choose the 1904 (1908 edition, Scale 1:62500) and download it. Zoom in and you can see what appear to be mudflats depicted in the approximate location described by Kettner.
This has been fun, thanks for the exchanges and Happy New Year.
Judy, I can also tell you that the water table at the airport is very, very shallow, and even if it is not necessarily the site of Dutch Flats, the liquefaction risk is real.
I’ve no doubt that the liquefaction risk is real at the airport as it is anywhere we build on fill land. There’s an earthquake fault that runs directly across the [former] Navy Broadway Complex site at Harbor Dr. & Broadway which I understand is largely fill land, as well, and they are building substantial structures on it. Good thing we don’t often experience earthquakes of any scale in San Diego – we’re ‘riddled’ with faults.
I heard somewhere that the runway at SDIA rises and lowers a couple of inches due to the tides. As such, the Midway Area probably does as well.
Paul, I also remember reading something about how the tides affected horse racing at Del Mar, that certain horses or types of horses were more likely to win depending on the state is the tide. Can anybody shed any light on this?