By Jennifer Van Grove / The San Diego Union-Tribune / August 18, 2024
Tom Driscoll’s commercial fishing wharf at the north eastern tip of America’s Cup Harbor in Point Loma is falling apart. The marina’s four, fixed piers — home to as many as 120 fishing boats in their prime — appear to be on the brink of collapse. The business model gave way long ago. The substandard conditions will remain suspended in time until the Port of San Diego assumes control of the facility at some future date.
The agency is pushing Driscoll out of the marina that has held the family name for 32 years — but also forcing him to stay put for now. Port commissioners considered and rejected two formal redevelopment proposals from Driscoll, the first in 2017 and the other in 2022. Then, in late 2022, the agency declined to renew Driscoll’s lease, opting instead to move forward with its own takeover and redevelopment plan for what it’s now calling the Shelter Island Commercial Fishing Wharf. …
The port eventually plans to replace the existing piers with a single set of floating docks. First it must study the environmental impacts of demolishing the piers and constructing the replacement floating docks. The transition could take two years or more.
For now, Driscoll is tied to the marina where he’s no longer wanted. He must also pay rent on a lease that will remain in hold-over status until the environmental work is done and the piers can be razed (at his expense), which is a requirement of his contract with the port. …
The family business
One of three family businesses on San Diego Bay, Driscoll’s Wharf dates to 1992, when Driscoll and his father, the late John Gerald Driscoll III, acquired the 40-year leasehold for the commercial fishing marina at 4918 N. Harbor Drive for $2 million from a bank that had foreclosed on the previous owner. …
The Point Loma site covers roughly 2.4 acres of land and 6.6 acres of water. The marina includes a fish offloading dock and four old-fashioned fixed structure piers that pre-date the port’s existence and were likely built in the 1950s. There are also three, two-story commercial buildings that were constructed in the 1980s.
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Mooring at both Tuna Harbor downtown and Driscoll Wharf are limited by state law to commercial fishing boats only. Most of the local fishing fleet is long gone. What commercial fishing that is left in San Diego is mostly sustainable, boutique fishing operations that don’t need large landside support.
Driscoll Wharf is dilapidated and unable to support what commercial fishing enterprises still exist and Tuna Harbor is smack dab in the middle of the tourist-heavy Embarcadero.
These two sites would be much more profitable to the port if they were converted to recreational boat mooring, but that pesky state law is in the way.
Our politicians must put their heads together to protect the few commercial fishing operations that are left in San Diego and at the same time revision these publicly owned spaces for the highest and best use for the people.
I was born here 74 years ago, and point loma holds many memories for all of us. Please repair and keep the docks…
I understand the facilities are dilapidated. I realize there is a lease . Yet, I can’t help but think that once again an “entity” wants more control. Soon, there will not be even one family(private citizen) owned property on the waterfront. Everything that gave San Diego charm & character is just about gone. Replaced by some souless highpriced hightaxed ugly whatever. It has the same result as 50 unit apt buildings in family neighborhoods. The very vibe that made this our home is going going and maybe gone.