San Diego council puts off declaring dozens of acres along Mission Bay surplus property

The San Diego City Council isn’t signing off yet on a plan by Mayor Todd Gloria that would declare dozens of acres of commercial property in Mission Bay Park surplus so it can be offered to developers.

On a 7-1 vote after an hour of debate and criticism of the plan from members of the public, the council agreed this week to revisit the proposal in September, after their August recess.

Council President Joe LaCava voted no on delaying the proposal; Councilmember Vivian Moreno was absent.

San Diego’s decades-old long-term master plan for Mission Bay Park calls for a hotel in the area of the three proposed surplus sites.

A top aide to Gloria acknowledged the city had been approached about building a hotel on the largest of the three parcels — the 23-acre Marina Village banquet and conference center. The other sites are now home to the Dana Landing Marina on nearby Ingraham Street and the Sportsmen’s Seafood restaurant just down Quivira Way.

“The city did recently receive an unsolicited proposal for one of the three parcels,” said Christina Bibler, the city’s director of economic development.

She said her office planned to write many conditions into the so-called notice of availability to ensure a project that would benefit the city.

“The state law does not require us to come to terms with any of those proposers,” she said.

The council’s vote for a delay represented something of a compromise.

Councilmembers Marni von Wilpert and Jennifer Campbell said they would not support a surplus declaration, instead moving to direct the city to work to lobby state lawmakers for an exemption from the state law that would avoid declaring any of the bayfront surplus.

Bibler told the council the designation is required under the Surplus Land Act, which seeks to promote the development of more affordable housing. Under that law, any land being leased for more than 15 years must be declared surplus, and cities must first prioritize the development of affordable housing on it.

The city previously asked state housing officials for an exemption from the requirement but was denied. City charter bars non-recreational use of parkland that isn’t accounted for in a park’s master plan.

Von Wilpert and Campbell said the city should not open the door to further development along Mission Bay by declaring the property surplus and potentially making it available for uses that are not part of the master plan.

Instead, they said the city should lobby state lawmakers for a special exemption in new legislation.

“This place needs to be upgraded, but it needs to stay a public park,” von Wilpert said.

Councilmembers Sean Elo-Rivera and Kent Lee said they supported the mayor’s plan as the most effective way to generate private investment in the aging buildings that now make up the three parcels.

“The condition of those buildings is not great,” Elo-Rivera said. “This is basically a restroom for birds. These are dilapidated. We should be very specific about what’s there right now and why it’s important to improve conditions.”

LaCava did not explain his vote against delaying the proposal. But he said during the council discussion that he had “zero confidence” that the state would approve any Surplus Land Act exemptions for Mission Bay.

Redeveloping the existing commercial properties would generate much-needed income for the city, he said.

“We are very hungry for revenue, and this is potential revenue that doesn’t come through the backs of San Diegans,” LaCava said.

The plan to declare the three Mission Bay parcels surplus was initially on the council’s consent agenda, meaning it was not scheduled for a public debate. Von Wilpert pulled it from the docket to allow time for the discussion.