Concerns were raised at the Nov. 15 Pacific Beach Town Council meeting that some ball fields could be lost in the De Anza Cove revitalization project to reestablish wetlands in the northeast corner of Mission Bay.
Wording in the project’s recently-released final environmental impact review substitutes concrete phrasing in previous documents to more ambiguous that requires further parsing, said PB Planning Group Chair Marcella Bothwell.
For example, she said the word “must” was replaced with “shall” in reference to fixing the athletic ball fields before phasing in Rose Creek’s restoration. The new EIR also introduced the concept of consolidation for various activities on the site.
“To some extent, it may just be legalese and they may absolutely mean that we’re not going to destroy anything before we move (the creek),” Bothwell said. “But we just don’t know.”
The De Anza Natural Plan parcels the approximately 400-acre area into three basic components: recreational use (parkland and active use, including the present golf course), overnight accommodations (currently operated by Campland on the Bay and Mission Bay RV Resort) and natural environment of wetland marsh, beach and uplands.
Over the summer, the city increased the recreational allotment from 60 to 66.5 acres. Bothwell questioned whether the increase would be enough to serve the community’s needs.
“I’m more concerned about how much recreation we can squeeze into 66 and one half acres, which is still better than the 60 acres we had before,” she said. “But this is not going to go away. We’ve got some concessions and I think we’re on the right track, but this means we can’t say, ah, it’s all done.”
With the city’s planning department to hold a hearing on Dec. 7, the approximately 40 people at the meeting were urged to attend by City Councilmember Joe LaCava.
“Whether you go there in person or you call in, that’s a great way to communicate what the community wants,” LaCava said. “I’ve had the conversation with city planning. I don’t get them all again until the vote, when it comes to City Council.”
Bothwell said bringing children and having them speak at previous meetings on De Anza Cove when other agencies were involved in the process was effective. The De Anza Cove athletic fields serve 500 to 750 children in softball, baseball and soccer leagues across the area, not just Pacific Beach.
“Kids just engender a lot more sympathy,” Bothwell said. “You can bet that there are a lot of kids (in other districts) who would also be sympathetic to retaining their ball fields and playing fields. That is a mechanism that I feel would be good for us. At some point, we may need to go to other council offices too and give Joe some help. … There are eight other votes on the City Council that are going to be voting on this.”
PB Town Council President Charlie Nieto told the audience to keep vigilant on developments as the plan moves forward.
“(The topic) was definitely hot this spring and I think that they enjoyed it cooling,” Nieto said. “So it’s important that the community not lose momentum. That’s the way these kinds of things work.”
During non-agenda public comment, resident Kevin Payne spoke about the current remodeling of Bay Pointe Apartments’ 500 units at 3866 Ingraham Street. He graphically described and showed photos of alleged health hazards and tenant privations.
Citing Air Pollution Control District reports, Payne said the complex is known to contain asbestos which he claimed was put into dumpsters without mitigation.
“This is the toxic plume that went up the other day,” he said, holding up a large photo. “If your kids were walking by, your family, your pets, anybody who’s walking by, they’re going to get covered in this.”
In addition, he said workers are grinding countertops on-site, creating silica dust, a known carcinogen. Of the 500 countertops required, Payne said about 120 have been completed.
“The residents over at Bay Pointe, when they’re playing tennis, the stuff is blowing on them all day,” he said. “Kids are in it. Pets are in it. … I was trying to get the city to do something before the rains came but it’s nice and clean now. It’s all washed into the bay.”
Tenants were not relocated during the remodeling, Payne said. Instead, a 7 foot-by-7 foot opening is cut into the apartment’s wall to provide access for workers and materials.
“You’re going to live like that for two weeks, with a piece of plastic draped in front of your wall,” Payne said. “Anyone … can literally pull back the plastic and walk into your apartment for the two to three weeks it takes to remodel it.”
According to Payne, the apartment complex is owned by private equity firm Blackstone.
Payne said he has been trying to organize tenants and get assistance from city and other government agencies, but has not found much success. He created the website poison92109.com to document the situation.
“I can’t even believe this is happening in PB,” Payne said. “If anyone knows anyone that can help. We’ve been reaching out to city agencies; to everyone. So far, we haven’t gotten the help we really need to make a difference and make this stop.”
LaCava addressed Payne’s presentation during the non-agenda public comments period.
“I’m appalled at the kind of crap that goes on by landlords who think they can just do this kind of stuff,” LaCava said. “So we’re going to chase it down. … We will step in. We’ve got the information and we will definitely take it on because this is serious stuff. This is nonsense.”
