By Steven Mihailovich / PB Monthly / July 30, 2026
Local outrage over the city’s closure of 13 public restrooms in Mission Bay Park to balance the budget was evident at the Pacific Beach Town Council’s July meeting.
As the sole city government official present, Savannah Stallings — PB rep for Council President Joe LaCava — bore the full brunt of criticisms and frustrations arising from the move projected to save San Diego about $547,000 through the elimination of six custodian positions at the Parks and Recreation Department. Their responsibilities included the public restrooms’ maintenance.
The audience of about 35 was audibly upset that the city’s decision caused outsized disruptions for minor savings.
“Personally, don’t you think this should go a little further than just, it’s a budget cut, just accept it?” asked Ron, a resident who didn’t give his surname. “I understand it’s a budget cut. What about the people in the community? I mean, we’re all not homeless here. We’re all taxpayers here. I don’t understand why they targeted the bathrooms.”
Stallings said the initial budget proposal called for closures of restrooms along the shore, but were reinstated after heavy lobbying by LaCava.
In addition, Stallings said only one of the 13 closed restrooms is located in District 1 under LaCava. The remaining 12 are in District 2 served by Councilmember Jennifer Campbell.
“During the budget process, the council president did fight to restore all of the shoreline bathrooms that were initially slated to be cut in the initial budget and also fought for the Mission Bay bathrooms that are inconveniently closed,” Stallings said. “So there was one bathroom that was cut in PB, but the rest of the bathrooms that are here in PB have remained open. … Unfortunately, it wasn’t something that was restored in the process in Mission Bay Park.”
A map on the city’s website showing where the open and closed restrooms are along the beach and bay. The map can be viewed at tinyurl.com/SDRestroomsMap. (Courtesy City of San Diego)
Attendee Troy Pelot suggested that the restroom closures wouldn’t reduce maintenance, but merely shift their location.
“Who’s going to pay for the people who are relieving themselves outside of the bathroom that’s closed?” he asked.
The closures also include seven of the 14 portable washrooms on Fiesta Island.
Many city-closed restrooms had other open facilities within walking distance.
Although the restroom at the south end of Crown Point Park is closed, Ron said the people most affected are those least able to reach the nearest open restroom. He said this is based on his observations during a recent busy day when the parking lot was almost full.
“I understand one bathroom only was closed in Pacific Beach,” he said. “But what about all the people in the parking lot? I was there. Everybody had to walk to the other parking lot — senior citizens, young children — to use the bathroom. It just seems like a bit of a disconnect. … Maybe I should use my bathroom at home before I go to the park. Is that what you’re saying?”
PBTC President Charlie Nieto spoke on Stallings’ behalf, appealing for the audience’s understanding that she was just delivering the message, not authoring it.
“There is a lot to be frustrated about with the city right now,” Nieto said. “But I think we can all recognize that Savannah is not the source of our problems. As crazy as it is, not every community actually has community reps that show up. So I do just want to give some recognition to Savannah for coming out and taking all your tough questions.”
Stallings seemed sympathetic to residents’ complaints. Even with the restrooms locked, she said the issue is still open at the City Council.
“It is an ongoing conversation,” Stallings said. “We are hearing from you and the council president is listening. There are lots of council members that agree that this is a priority.”
During the meeting, the city’s new trash collection fees were discussed with Ian Ralph, an Environmental Services Department analyst, who explained the new fee structure in the wake of litigation settled in May that lowered trash collection fees. From an initial $44 to $55 per month approved by City Council in June 2025, beginning on July 1, 2027 the monthly fee will be $28.53 to $38.75.
In 2022, San Diego voters approved Measure B, which allowed the city to charge single family homes for trash collection after 106 years of service paid out of the general fund. Dwellings with five or more units must arrange their own trash pickup as before.
With 35-gallon, 65-gallon and 95-gallon bins, the monthly fee is based on the size of the gray bin used for landfill waste, Ralph said. The size of the light blue recycling bins and green organic waste bins do not affect the fee unless additional bins are ordered.
Through an online customer portal, homeowners can select their service level.
“If you have not done this, we automatically assign you the 95-gallon service level,” Ralph said. “If you’ve done nothing, that’s what you have.”
The city has delivered 246,447 gray bins citywide to homes to replace the black waste bins and is in the process of distributing 242,502 blue recycling bins by September. The green organic bins will not be replaced.
Damaged bins can now be replaced for free, Ralph said.
Financial assistance is available for qualifying residents. The primary criterion is household income at or below 60% of the state’s median income, which is $3,381 per month for one person and $6,407 monthly for a household of four.
Ralph said anyone in the household enrolled in assistance programs, such as Medi-Cal or CalFresh, can also qualify.
“If you do qualify and are approved, you would get a reduced fee for next year’s service,” he said. “For the majority of people that qualify, they’ll get about half of the fee reduced. A smaller group of people … would potentially qualify for the full fee being waived.”
Because the lower fee forced by the lawsuit means trash collection must be partially subsidized by the general fund, two future planned services were scrubbed: weekly recycling collection and bulk trash pick up.
“How that was going to work was that twice a year, eligible residents would be able to call in and have us come out and pick up their bulky items,” Ralph said. “Think washer and dryer, tables, things of that sort.”
He added that recycling collection will remain biweekly.
Attendee Jennifer Novak said most overflowing bins originate from short-term rentals and asked what the city is doing to ensure those operations pay extra.
Ralph said he and his team are in the field on Tuesdays and Saturdays, following garbage trucks as they make their rounds in order to collect data.
His department is providing two trash pickups per week in Pacific Beach this summer to combat the problem caused by tourism, he added.
“But because of this new fee, there’s an equity problem there, because everyone’s paying the fee, but they’re getting double pick up,” Ralph said.
He stated that more data will be needed this summer to resolve the problem.
“I can’t fix the problem to your question, but it is coming,” Ralph said. “Were trying to collect the data to figure out what to do about that because we’re already there.”
Mission Bay Park closed restrooms
District 1
De Anza South (southern end of De Anza Cove).
District 2
- Crown Point South (southern tip of Crown Point Park, near the boat launch).
- El Carmel Point (tip of El Carmel Point off San Jose Place).
- North Cove (north side of Vacation Isle).
- Ski Beach North (northern side of Ski Beach Park in central Vacation Isle).
- Ski Beach Middle (center of Ski Beach Park).
- Vacation Isle West (western edge of Vacation Isle near the model yacht pond).
- Bonita Cove East (eastern side of Bonita Cove, near the playground).
- Ventura Point (adjacent to the Bahia Resort Hotel and West Mission Bay Drive).
- Hospitality Point (far end of Quivira Way in the marina area).
- South Shores (near the South Shores boat launch ramp off SeaWorld Drive).
- Tecolote North (northern end of Tecolote Shores, near the playground area).
Trash services was paid out of the general fund, but it was a slice of the homeowners Property Tax paid to the County that was diverted to the City’s General Fund. It’s unfortunate it was never shown as a line item on the property tax bill. It was not free trash pickup.