OB Planners Construct Annual ‘Wish-List’ of Capital Improvement Projects — a List the City Annually Ignores

By Steven Mihailovich / Point Loma-OB Monthly / July 10, 2026 

With ideas ranging from installing additional pedestrian beacon crossings to a complete replacement of the Ocean Beach recreation center, the Ocean Beach Planning Board unanimously approved a list of 14 capital improvement project requests to submit to the city of San Diego for consideration and execution, at its July 7 meeting.

The creation of a CIP list by the OBPB is an annual exercise dictated by the city, which combines the list with input from the local councilmember and other qualified agencies and groups to direct limited city funding for projects that best meet the community’s wishes. And though the CIP requests were predominantly replays from last year’s list, the board adopted three more following public feedback at the OB Street Fair on June 27.

Big Ticket Projects
In composing the list, OBPB treasurer Tracy Dezenzo wondered whether perennially listing requests for large ticket items in the millions of dollars would serve any practical purpose.

“The question is, do we want to again ask for the pier (to be replaced), ask for the lifeguard tower (to be replaced), just to make sure that’s on our list every single year?” she asked. “Or do we think that they know by now that we’ve asked for it every single year?”

Thus, the conversation focused on the OB Pier.

Closed in October 2023 due to irreparable structural failures, the city has since pushed for a brand new pier, obtaining funding for designs and showcasing them for public approval before sidelining the project because of huge budget deficits in the past couple of years.

OBPB vice chair Kevin Hastings noted that in his discussions at the Street Fair, a new pier was the primary ambition of local residents, who also believed the estimated $190 million cost was its major hindrance.

“The most comments I got were about the pier,” he said. “People wanted it to be open. (But) there was some criticism of it being too big and too grand. That it’s too expensive and that might actually hurt its ability to be able to actually get done.”

Nevertheless, the pier replacement project remained on the list along with other recurring large projects, including a new Ocean Beach lifeguard tower, new recreation center, and stormwater and drainage repair and improvements.

Newport Avenue Promenade
A subcommittee meeting in June produced five new CIP proposals that were presented at the Street Fair, where residents and attendees could vote on them. And while one project got public support, it was ultimately withheld from this year’s CIP list until more studies could be conducted.

The creation of a pedestrian promenade on Newport Avenue received the highest number of votes at the Street Fair, while two other concepts — a roundabout on Abbott Street and converting Bacon Street to one-way traffic  — were dismissed before the meeting for lack of support.

The promenade concept also generated the most interest from the board, with OBPB board chair Andrea Schlageter describing it as prohibiting vehicular traffic on Newport to create a safe and festive pedestrian-friendly environment.

Dezenzo said she favored the idea, saying that support for the concept has been steadily present since she first joined the board in 2018.

“The want and desire to have that is growing,” she stated. “I feel like we’re at a point now where if we put it on the CIP, maybe it’ll get funded in 10 years and maybe 10 years from now, everybody will be excited about it. I just hate to not put it on.”

Yet demarcating the promenade became a hurdle.

While some assumed traffic would be restricted along the same footprint of the Ocean Beach Farmers Market (between Bacon and Cable streets), board member Chris Chalupsky suggested the road be closed west of Ocean Front Way and onto Abbott Street in order to connect to the beachfront.

“You’d have a lot of people that would want to congregate there, feel a lot safer walking across the street, going to the beach, going to Veteran’s Plaza,” Chalupsky said. “For me, I think that’s a sensible starting point.”

All said, the Newport promenade CIP was ultimately shelved until the concept could be further developed in consultation with affected merchants and the Ocean Beach MainStreet Association, the local business improvement district.

Other Proposals
Among the other new CIP proposals, the board included a project to urge the city to paint applicable curbs red to clarify where drivers can’t park in accordance with the state’s Daylighting law, which prohibits parking within 20 feet of the approach side of any intersection or crosswalk. Since becoming effective in 2025, San Diego police have issued more than 13,000 Daylighting citations, specifically targeting coastal neighborhoods.

“It’s a public service,” Hastings said. “They get people with the parking tickets. The residents will get the hang of it as they get ticketed. Then it will just be a tourist tax basically at that point.”

Additionally, the approved list included new locations for crosswalks with lighted beacons at the intersection of West Point Loma Boulevard and Cable Street, and a request to convert the underutilized shuffleboard court at the Rec Center into something more popular, such as a pickleball court.

The full 2026 CIP list by the OBPB includes:

• OB Pier replacement
• Painting applicable curbs red to accommodate the city’s Daylighting law
• A study as to whether to convert the OB Recreation Center shuffleboard court for new use
• OB lifeguard tower replacement
•  Stormwater and drainage repair and improvements
• Improvements to Saratoga beach park in accordance with the Ocean Beach Community Development Corporation conceptual design
• Improvements to the right turn lane from Nimitz Boulevard onto West Point Loma Boulevard
• Recreation center replacement
• Improvements to Robb Field vehicle access directly from Sunset Cliffs Boulevard
• Sunset Cliffs Boulevard at Orchard  Avenue pedestrian beacon crossing
• Sunset Cliffs Boulevard at Santa Cruz Avenue pedestrian beacon crossing
• Sunset Cliffs Boulevard at Niagara Avenue pedestrian beacon crossing
• Sunset Cliffs Boulevard at Brighton Avenue pedestrian beacon crossing
• West Point Loma Boulevard at Cable Street pedestrian beacon crossing