Ocean Beach planners put effort in motion to spruce up roundabout

The Ocean Beach Planning Board took the first of 17 steps required to install artwork on OB’s sole roundabout at the intersection of Bacon Street and West Point Loma Boulevard.

The board unanimously approved a letter Oct. 7 seeking the city of San Diego’s permission to beautify the roundabout, which in October 2022 was given a notorious Onion award from the San Diego Architectural Foundation as one of the region’s worst projects.

Awards judges said at the time that the roundabout “actually deters pedestrians from walking through here. … Roundabouts are supposed to improve flows of cars and people and bicyclists, and this particular roundabout just confuses everyone.”

“I guess they couldn’t bother to put anything in as far as landscaping and beautification,” said Tyler Martin, chairman of OBPB’s Transportation Committee. “It’s just pavement, and that’s exactly why we’re doing it.”

As the sponsoring organization, OBPB’s letter will be sent to the mayor’s office, City Councilwoman Jennifer Campbell, whose District 2 includes Ocean Beach, and the city Development Services Department for approval of the site in the formal placemaking permit process.

If the location is sanctioned, an artist will be hired and the beautification project will be screened by the San Diego Commission for Arts and Culture in coordination with the Transportation Department, which has jurisdiction over the site.

OBPB member Tracy Dezenzo, a former arts and culture commissioner, said the commission would look at it “for maintenance, how long it’s going to be there, who’s going to maintain it. They’ll chime in on whether they think the art is good, suitable or even terrible.”

The project includes the central island, the four splitter islands, the large pedestrian triangle island on the southeast corner, and the northeast corner of the intersection adjacent to Robb Field.

In presenting the concept to the Planning Board, Martin listed several safety criteria, such as the color white can’t be used in any artwork there to keep it from being confused with road striping, and any artwork must not impede the ability of emergency vehicles to drive over the roundabout.

Martin said the Transportation Committee considered potential materials for the artwork, such as paint and plantings, before deciding on tile as the most viable.

“I would have put planters here, but we don’t have anyone to manage them,” Martin said. “I was told that even with succulents or low-water plants, do not put planter boxes out if someone’s not going to water them. All I could really think of that’s low-maintenance is tile.”

Martin envisions mosaic-like artwork for the roundabout and said some funding has already been secured through an arts grant from the Ocean Beach Community Development Corp.

Dezenzo noted that drivers often run over the roundabout’s center circle, leaving tread marks and debris, and she hoped the artist could plan for that in the artwork instead of letting it degrade the piece.

“This would require some real creative thinking,” Dezenzo said. “Because of the location, it’s going to be really difficult to keep it pristine and clean. That’s a really key element: Get something that works well with tire tracks and doesn’t just get all muddied and gross right away.”

Board member Chris Chalupsky said the commission will consider many factors, including safety and the impact on viewers.

“The short version is we want to leave it to the professionals,” he said. “It’s best not to be too prescriptive. You have strong parameters, but leave it to the artist to tell you.”

Martin noted that businesses around the site must be notified about the project for their feedback, and the board discussion broadened to explore more extensive community input.

“[The] artist will do multiple community engagements,” Dezenzo said. “They will invite people to come and talk to them about what they see for that area and what they don’t like. Then the artist will build something based on community input and not just their own ideas.”

To help oversee the project it is sponsoring, the board decided to establish an ad hoc subcommittee to include Chalupsky, Dezenzo, Martin and three other community members.

Recreation assessment

With San Diego conducting an inaugural citywide Community Recreation Needs Assessment launched in August, OBPB discussed how it could participate. The year-long project includes workshops, focus groups and a detailed online survey.

“We are repeatedly asked for parks needs around town,” said OBPB Chairwoman Andrea Schlageter. “Finally the city is undergoing a full citywide parks needs assessment. … A letter is always good from a planning board and it always gets a little attention, especially when it’s directly in response to something the city is doing.”

Noting that the board last submitted parks requests in 2021, member Kevin Hastings pulled up a city list, updated annually, of unfunded requests for local parks, some dating to 1999.

The board’s discussion focused on smaller parks such as Brighton Neighborhood Park, Ebers Park, Saratoga Park and the Recreation Center. Items such as children’s playgrounds, lighting, fencing and recreational equipment were requested at more than one site.

Board member Chris Szulewski brought up a lack of city parks south of Newport Avenue, saying he had to walk 20 minutes to take his kids to a playground.

Though the creation of a park south of Newport was championed, Dezenzo cautioned the group that “if we propose a new park, it is probably going to be a decade.”

OBPB decided to revive its parks subcommittee, with Dezenzo, Hastings and Szulewski addressing the city’s survey. Feedback is due in January.

“I think the biggest key to any kind of parks committee is getting the public involved,” Hastings said. “That’s really the hardest part.”