OB Rag

Please see an update in a newer post here. 

Basically, faced with tremendous pushback, city staff now recommends $150 a year for residents. 

By David Walters

We have learned that Mayor Todd Gloria’s office has proposed setting annual rates for parking in Balboa Park at $300 for residents and $375 for non-residents. This is an outrageous increase and far above the $150 annual rate proposed by Councilmember Marni Von Wilbert and others as fair and reasonable.

I attended the Balboa Park Commission meeting this week. The Commission, which serves as an advisory body to the Mayor’s Office, voted to recommend annual passes be priced at $99, with discounts for seniors and low-income families.

The final decision on parking fees will be made by the City Council, which is expected to meet and vote on this issue on Monday, November 17, or Tuesday, November 18.

A recent survey of our Redwood Bridge Club members showed that most of them cannot afford parking permits at these prices — and the same holds true for most San Diegans. If the City intends to monetize parking in Balboa Park, it must do so in a way that keeps the park accessible and welcoming to all.

Editordude: The following report by David Garrick has been edited to focus mainly on entry fees for Mission Bay Park and the idea of paid parking at the beach.

By David Garrick / SD Union-Tribune / Nov.2–4, 2025

San Diego City Council members are proposing entry fees at Mission Bay Park, taxes on vacant storefronts, a rental-car tax and other new efforts to boost revenue as they continue an ongoing struggle with the city budget. …

The new ideas come just as debate begins on a new budget for the fiscal year that begins next July…. The council struggled to close a roughly $350 million deficit last spring for the ongoing fiscal year with a variety of cuts, including to library hours, and with new revenues from things like fees to park in Balboa Park and doubling parking-meter rates.

San Diego was also facing a potential deficit of about $10 million during the fiscal year that ended in June. That projected deficit — which could have eaten into the city’s $207 million reserve just when it’s become particularly crucial — was wiped out by a late spring surge in sales tax revenue and some lower-than-expected city expenses.

By Lori Weisberg / The San Diego Union-Tribune / November 6, 2025 

Paradise Point resort, a popular vacation destination on Mission Bay for decades, secured approval Wednesday, Nov.6  from the California Coastal Commission to move forward with a long-delayed renovation that is expected to cost tens of millions of dollars.

The commission’s action comes more than two years after the resort ownership abruptly pulled its plans from commission consideration in the wake of strong opposition from local leaders and longstanding public access violations of the California Coastal Act.

Months of negotiations with the commission’s enforcement staff ensued, leading to a landmark settlement that not only called for removing multiple impediments to public access around the island resort and shoreline, but also extensive new signage and other improvements

by Brooke Clifford / Coronado Eagle & Journal / Nov 6, 2025

In a recent closed session meeting the Port of San Diego Board of Directors rejected Port Coronado Associates, LLC’s proposal to renew their lease of the Coronado Ferry Landing beyond June 30, 2026. The decision also impacts the potential plans to renovate the Ferry Landing that were included as a part of the renewal proposal which Port Coronado Associates (PCA) have spent several years developing design for with input from the community.

PCA has operated the Ferry Landing for nearly 40 years, having initially entered into an agreement with Port and taken on a development project for modernizing the complex in the 1980s.

According to the press release from the Port of San Diego on their decision, the Port is currently pursuing a possible short-term lease extension with PCA for transitional purposes. They have also said that the Ferry Landing will remain open and that businesses will have the opportunity to continue to operate beyond the June 30, 2026 lease expiration date, and that the Port will be communicating further with those subtenants about the situation.

A man and his dog suffered only minor injuries after sliding 20-feet down a cliff near the 900 block of Sunset Cliffs Boulevard, according to San Diego Fire Department’s Battalion Chief James Diaz.

Sunday night the fire department responded to a call of a man and his dog getting stuck at the bottom of a cliff just after 7:30 p.m.

Battalion Chief Diaz said that witnesses say the dog ran down the cliff and his owner followed him, which led to both of them sliding down about 20-feet, where they found themselves trapped at the bottom.

The following is a published Letter to the Editor at the San Diego U-T by College area resident Danna Givot, printed in the U-T on November 8.

Community Planning Groups are official, elected bodies representing their planning areas.

When they speak to the Planning Commission, Land Use & Housing Committee or City Council regarding Community Plan Updates, they deserve time to present their community’s position on the plan.

These official representatives should not have to struggle to get the public to attend to cede time to them—usually 60 seconds apiece — for the privilege of presenting the official CPG position on their Plan Update— the job they were elected to do. This is wrong.

By JW August

Eric DuVall could be called the Bard of OB.  But it’s not just the locals who may think that.

A blue ribbon panel of professionals from press clubs across America awarded DuVall “Body of Work” award for a series of stories for his column, “A Page from History,” which he writes for The Point Loma – OB Monthly. The Monthly is owned by the MediaNews Group, which also owns the San Diego Union-Tribune.  His work is also published in the Beach & Bay Press, Point Loma Magazine and publications, including here at the Rag.

He is a prolific, careful, thoughtful, writer who paints pictures with his words and evokes humor in his storytelling about the historical and cultural identity of Ocean Beach and Point Loma.

He was honored along with some of the region’s best communicators at the 52nd annual San Diego Press Club Awards held in Kearny Mesa at The Encore Event Center, formerly the historic XETV 6 studios.  San Diego’s Press Club has one of the largest memberships in the country and receives entries from all across the San Diego media landscape.

By Kate Callen

San Diego Planning Commission Vice Chair Matthew Boomhower has a visceral dislike for people who don’t share his zeal for densification. At every meeting, whenever public speakers push back on development overreach, he looks like a powder keg. He glares and fumes. He rails against what he calls “the anti-housing crowd.”

But Boomhower has never resorted to threatening a speaker with retaliation – until last Thursday, November 6.

The agenda item was the City’s “Preservation and Progress” program, which would empower developers by weakening standards for protecting historic structures.

Bruce Coons of Save Our Heritage Organisation (SOHO) warned that the measure could create new legal hurdles to projects because “anybody could appeal an historic designation.”

“Take the real-life example of 101 Ash Street,” said Coons. “If anybody had an ax to grind with the new proposal, they could appeal the designation, which would set the project back at least six months.”

101 Ash was an appropriate example to cite. It was also a shrewd choice. Its development team is headed by Boomhower’s colleague, Planning Commission Chair Kelly Moden.

Was Coons speculating that the Chair’s own project could be jeopardized by the new historical designation process? Yes. Was he threatening to block the development? No. In fact, SOHO supports Moden’s project.

Homicide detectives are investigating the death of a man who was found shot at the Ocean Beach Pier shortly after midnight, authorities said Saturday.

Officers responded to a 911 call about gunshots in the 5000 block of Niagra Avenue at 12:23 a.m. Saturday, where they found the victim shot, according to the San Diego Police Department.

Officers and paramedics tried to save the unidentified Latino man, estimated to be in his 30s, but he died at the scene, according to detectives.

Investigators learned there was a group of at least two men and two women, all aged 25-30 years old, who were hanging out in the area of the pier parking lot for a period of time before walking south to 5100 Narragansett Ave. near the shoreline, according to police.

By Csaba Petre

Living in a coastal community such as Ocean Beach raises questions about environmental conservation, sustainable use of resources, and equity of coastal access in San Diego. Given the scope of these issues, one may question the efficacy of individual contributions toward the conservation of threatened habitats and other environmental endeavors. These questions have been sharpened in the present Trumpian era of pro-industry sentiment wrapped in climate change denialism at the national level.

Clear answers are hard to formulate alone; it takes a community to tackle pressing environmental concerns. Recently, Coastal Roots Farm in Encinitas facilitated this global yet local conversation, featuring two environmental documentaries as part of their Farm Film and Music Series: Faka’apa’apa & Out of Mined, as well as an informative panel discussion. The event took place on a recent, chilly late October night on the farm’s property. It had the feel of a summer family movie night in the park, but with a message of pressing urgency.

The panel was made up of: Mayela Manasjan (moderator), executive director of the Association of Women in Water, Energy & Environment; Dr. Greg Rouse – Marine Biologist at Scripps Institute of Oceanography; Coach Jackson – Founder and executive director of Coastal Defenders; and Amber Sparks – Marine Biologist and Co-founder of the Blue Latitudes Foundation.

One last book sale!  Can you help on Sunday set up or take down? Give Laura a call/text/or email and let her know if you can help.

Laura says:

Set up time is from 11 to 12 on Sunday, Nov. 9th.  Meet at the Annex (4817 Santa Monica) and we will schlepp the trolleys and tables over to Vignettes.

The Federal Aviation Administration is forcing airlines to cut 10% of their flights at 40 of the busiest airports across the nation to reduce pressure on air traffic controllers during the ongoing government shutdown and ensure that flying remains safe. The airports have been ordered to cut 4% starting Friday, Nov.7 with the remaining cuts to come next week.

Travelers should check with their airlines to see if their flight has been cut. Here is a partial list of airports affected, mostly local West Coast ones — :

West Coast Airports

California

• San Diego International
• Los Angeles International
• Oakland International
• Ontario International in California
• San Francisco International

Other West Coast