OB Rag

By Ben Folk, SDRPF Intern

What do a healthy atmosphere, endangered wildlife, and coastal infrastructure all have in common? You might drive by it without a second thought, but the San Diego River Estuary in Ocean Beach works around the clock to protect all these features and more!

Estuaries, where freshwater rivers mix with the ocean, are known to bring a plethora of benefits to nearby communities. They absorb excess floodwater, serve as habitats for animal life, and even filter out dangerous pollutants. As Coastal Blue Carbon reports, estuaries store away nearly 3 billion tons of carbon dioxide in the continental US alone!

Even compared to other estuaries, however, the preservation of San Diego’s wetlands is of the utmost importance. The biome acts as home for a whopping 137 documented species of birds – many of which, such as the California least tern and western snowy plover, are endangered or otherwise threatened. The San Diego River Estuary also represents a significant portion of our community’s only remaining wetlands.

A report by Rewilding Mission Bay found that only 1% of Mission Bay’s estuaries remain, and that the state of California has lost 91% of these crucial environments over the years. Despite its scarcity, the estuary is at a continuous risk of damage every single day. Trash and pollution endanger local wildlife, toxicate the water, and present a public health hazard. Likewise, off-trail hiking and dog-walking can trample plants and bird nests, causing additional harm to the precious ecosystem.

By Frank Gormlie
Roughly a week and half ago, on Monday, August 4, dozens of Pacific Beach residents crowded onto a patch of sidewalk in a northeast portion of their community, holding signs and banners — all condemning a huge, mega-ADU project called Chalcifica — that called for over 100 units packed into two neighboring residential lots.

The PB residents and their supporters were there as their lawyer proclaimed a lawsuit against Chalcific’s developer, a man named Christian Spicer, and his firm SDRE.

SDRE wants to build six three-story apartment buildings with only 70 parking spaces for 116 units.The protesters — and the sponsoring group called Neighbors for a Better Pacific Beach – have a multitude of concerns; that the mega-project will pack street parking, endanger the environment and sit on the site of a culturally significant Kumeyaay village.

The lawyer filing the suit, Josh Chatten-Brown, spoke to the crowd. “Make no mistake: These are not simple granny flats. They are large investor apartment complexes masquerading as accessory units designed to exploit the ADU laws for profit and to sidestep the public oversight that such a development demands.”

So, just why were dozens of neighbors and Kumeyaay tribal members at that protest Monday and just who is the complex’s developer, Christian Spicer?

First of all, the neighbors’ chief concern is that the complex is too large for a residential neighborhood’s infrastructure, plus they’re worried the mega-project will overwhelm the neighborhood’s streets and fire evacuation routes, leading to traffic, packed parking and increased risk in an area designated as a very high fire hazard zone.

SDRE plans to build parking spaces for only about half of Chalcifica’s proposed units, for under current city law, developers aren’t required to build extra parking for backyard projects if they’re located within a half-mile of public transit, which includes Chalcifica. The area is already plagued by bottlenecks, congestion and few entrances — all things Chalcifica will worsen when it adds over 100 more residents.

Tribal members were there that day at the protest because they believe Spicer will develop Chalcifica upon untouched, sacred tribal lands. Jesse Pinto, an elder with the Jamul Indian Village, called for the land to be preserved so Kumeyaay people can perform ceremonies and preserve any human remains there. “The city’s approval process is an insult to history and gravely offensive to Kumeyaay descendants,” said tribal law attorney Courtney Ann Coyle.

Secondly, Christian Spicer has made a name for himself recently in San Diego: “the King of ADUs”. Spicer and his investors are responsible for scores of large-scale projects that defy common understandings of what an accessory dwelling unit, or ADU, is supposed to be. His development team has spearheaded two separate projects that each put more than 100 ADUs on a single site, plus they’re responsible for several others with more than 20 ADUs each.

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Projects at both parks are to include restroom, playground and parking lot changes, assisted by recent funding from a San Diego settlement with SeaWorld

By Regina Elling / Point Loma – OB Monthly SDU-T / August 14, 2025 

With fresh themes and changes that could benefit many types of users, plans are underway to upgrade Robb Field and Dusty Rhodes Park in Ocean Beach.

Partial funding for the upgrades was made available after SeaWorld and the city of San Diego agreed in January to an $8.5 million settlement of a years-long dispute over unpaid rent from SeaWorld during the COVID-19 pandemic.

About $3.6 million is to be used at Robb Field and $719,629 at Dusty Rhodes Park, according to the city.

Plans are moving forward for upgrades at Robb Field and Dusty Rhodes Park in Ocean Beach. (Bing Maps and Point Loma-OB Monthly)
Projects at both parks are to include a new “comfort station” (restrooms) and playground and parking lot improvements, city officials say.

By Cesar F Hernandez / Op-Ed – San Diego Union-Tribune / August 14, 2025 

When my family was separated by U.S immigration policy in the late 1990s, we were overtaken by unimaginable grief and unrelenting pain. This experience grounds me as the organizing director at the ACLU of San Diego and Imperial Counties, working alongside others to build collective strength in the face of injustice. Lately, this pain has surged back, rekindled by the Trump administration’s cruel attacks on immigrant communities.

Politicians are pushing to end birthright citizenship and gut asylum protections. Due process, the cornerstone of justice, is cast aside. ICE storms workplaces and homes. It arrests parents outside courthouses, hospitals, even schools. Then there’s “Alligator Alcatraz,” an ICE detention center built in the Florida Everglades to dehumanize. Even the name carries the weight of lurking danger, a constant reminder that immigrants are being hunted.

I saw the reality of these vicious, inhumane policies and practices play out as I watched an interview of two Oceanside teenagers. At 6 a.m. on June 18, masked, heavily armed ICE agents shattered their windows, threw flashbangs into their home and pushed their way inside. The U.S.-born siblings were handcuffed. Both parents were arrested.

The trauma on the siblings’ faces was unmistakable. The 14-year-old daughter’s tears could have been mine. I felt her pain. It’s a pain that steals your voice and breaks your body.

Developer-commissioned economic impact report highlights possible ripple effect of constructing a new arena and 4,250 apartments on San Diego’s sports arena site in the Midway District. City Expects to Pocket Only 1 Million + in Profit Annually

By Jennifer Van Grove / The San Diego Union-Tribune / August 13, 2025 

The Midway Rising project anticipated to replace San Diego’s sports arena site could uplift the region’s local economy with a yearly boost equivalent to that of Comic-Con, according to a newly released economic impact report.

Wednesday, the team behind the project released the analysis, which was prepared by the San Diego Regional Economic Development Corporation and paid for by the developer.

In total, the project is expected to produce $178 million in new spending across the county each year once it is completed, according to the report. A large chunk of the new spending is projected to come from visitors traveling from out of town to frequent an all-new arena that is anticipated to host 143 events and 1.1 million people each year.

At the same time, the city of San Diego is expected to directly pocket only a marginal sum —  $1.1 million — in profit to the general fund from property and sales taxes after subtracting estimated costs associated with servicing the project’s thousands of new residents.

Petition Against Tower Has Nearly 400 Over 500 Signatures

By Tyler Faurot / Point Loma – OB Monthly SDU-T / July 29, 2025 

A project that seeks to install a 30-foot cell tower in Point Loma’s Collier Park is drawing community opposition as it goes through the city of San Diego’s review process.

The city Development Services Department sent a notice of application dated July 2 to nearby tenants and homeowners.

According to the notice, the project proposed by AT&T would install a 30-foot-tall “faux mono-eucalyptus” tree that would house 12 antennas and nine remote radio units, or transceivers. The plan also calls for a 395-square-foot ground-mounted equipment enclosure surrounded by landscaping and screening, as well as a 30-kilowatt generator, cables and protective fencing.

Scott McCaskill, chairman of the Advocacy Committee for the Ocean Beach Community Foundation, said community consensus seems to be against the project, largely because of its proposed site in Collier Park at 2351 Soto St., near the eastern boundary of Ocean Beach. The park’s neighbors include the Ocean Beach Community Garden, Greencliff Apartments and dozens of other homes.

By Alex Horton and David Ovalle / Washington Post / August 12, 2025

The Trump administration is evaluating plans that would establish a “Domestic Civil Disturbance Quick Reaction Force” composed of hundreds of National Guard troops tasked with rapidly deploying into American cities facing protests or other unrest, according to internal Pentagon documents reviewed by The Washington Post.

The plan calls for 600 troops to be on standby at all times so they can deploy in as little as one hour, the documents say. They would be split into two groups of 300 and be stationed at military bases in Alabama and Arizona, with purview of regions east and west of the Mississippi River, respectively.

Cost projections outlined in the documents indicate that such a mission, if the proposal is adopted, could stretch into the hundreds of millions of dollars should military aircraft and aircrews also be required to be ready around-the-clock. Troop transport via commercial airlines would be less expensive, the documents say.

The proposal, which has not been previously reported, represents another potential expansion of President Donald Trump’s willingness to employ the armed forces on American soil. It relies on a section of the U.S. Code that allows the commander in chief to circumvent limitations on the military’s use within the United States.
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The documents, marked “predecisional,” are comprehensive and contain extensive discussion about the potential societal implications of establishing such a program. They were compiled by National Guard officials and bear time stamps as recent as late July and early August. Fiscal 2027 is the earliest this program could be created and funded through the Pentagon’s traditional budgetary process, the documents say, leaving unclear whether the initiative could begin sooner through an alternative funding source.

San Diego Harbor Police asked the public for help in identifying a driver and vehicle involved in the hit-and-run death of a pedestrian late Aug. 8 in Point Loma.

The crash occurred at about 11:30 p.m. in the 4400 block of North Harbor Drive near Laning Road, according to Harbor Police.

Responding officers began lifesaving measures on the pedestrian, later identified by the San Diego County medical examiner’s office as Mandy Booth, 51,

By Jeff McDonald / SD Union-Tribune / August 13, 2025

— A preliminary hearing has been scheduled for Oct. 10 on a request from a group of San Diego homeowners for an injunction that would postpone the city’s implementation of the monthly trash fee for single-family homes.

Judge James A. Mangione approved the schedule Tuesday at a hearing held over from last week, when the plaintiffs initially asked for an expedited September trial. Instead, both parties agreed that the plaintiffs would pursue an injunction.

“We have worked out an arrangement with your honor’s permission,” said attorney Michael Aguirre, who co-represents the plaintiffs. “We came to a mutual agreement that we would file a week from this Friday for a preliminary injunction.”

The city argued last week that it could not properly prepare for a trial starting as soon as next month.

By Donna Frye

On August 11, I received notice from the city that records were available for public review for Mission Bay Park, specifically the documents related to declaring three properties surplus lands and the communications between the city and the state.

Here is the link to the City of San Diego’s Next Request for Request 25-5691. [ https://sandiego.nextrequest.com/requests/25-5691 ]

Many of the documents were not shared with the public at the Land Use and Housing Committee Special meeting on July 2, 2025, the City Council meeting on July 29 or the Mission Bay Park Committee meeting on August 5.

While some are duplicative of one another, they do provide a partial timeline and some answers as to how the decision was made to declare all three properties in Mission Bay Park “surplus land”. There are some time gaps in the emails.

I have reviewed the documents briefly but focused on the emails for now. I have not gone through all the attachments and the following are just my initial observations.

The documents show that the city made a request to the Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD)  seeking an exemption to the Surplus Land Act (SLA ) on April 8, 2025, through HCD’s online portal.

OB Planning Board approves list of recommended local improvement projects but report indicates San Diego may need to give back millions in fees unspent for such projects

By Steven Mihailovich / Point Loma – OB Monthly SDU-T / August 12, 2025

A July county grand jury report saying the city of San Diego should refund $179 million in fees to developers cast a shadow over the Ocean Beach Planning Board’s list of recommended capital improvement projects it approved at its meeting last week.

[For those interested here’s where you can find the report: https://www.sandiegocounty.gov/content/sdc/grandjury/reports/2024-2025.html It’s titled Never Been Challenged: City of San Diego Development Impact Fee Program Redux (Pub. 5/30/2025) ]

The $179 million represents the total amount of development impact fees that have not been spent within the legally mandated five-year time limit from when they were collected. DIFs are assessed on new developments to pay for projects to help mitigate their impact on infrastructure and public services.

Planning Board Chairwoman Andrea Schlageter estimated that $20 million of the funds in question were derived from developments in Ocean Beach.