$32M Buys Out De Anza Cove Site; What Takes Mobile Homes' Place?

Long-delayed plans for prime waterfront property on Mission Bay got a giant step close to reality at City Hall Tuesday.

Many consider the 76-acre De Anza Cove mobile home park -- on that site since 19543 -- an eyesore, an underperforming asset for taxpayers and a waste of potential parkland and recreational space.

The legality of the residential compound on public tidelands came into dispute in 1978, and after its municipal ground lease expired in 2003, eviction notices were served and lawsuits were filed.

On Tuesday morning, the San Diego City Council approved a $32 million settlement for homeowners. The legal settlement covers nearly 300 residents whose payments will average $77,000 after lawyers split $10 million.

Some 90 others who received earlier settlements averaging one-tenth that amount are suing to set those aside and join the others. They all have a year to move out.

And now the question facing city leader is, what should become of the property?

"This land is public and should be used for the citizens of San Diego and those who want to come and visit the region," said Scott Chipman, a leading advocate for a proposal branded “Mission Bay Gateway,” which local planning groups see as consistent with the area’s master plan.

Chipman notes that the ground lease for nearby Campland runs out in 2017 and believes it would make perfect sense to relocate that 30-day-limit access complex onto the De Anza Cove mobile home park site, easterly across the Rose Creek inlet.

“Eighty percent of the people who use Campland are city residents,” he says. “So they're basically using it for a ‘staycation.'”

The gateway proposal calls for the Campland site -- once abandoned -- to be replaced by a vast complex of marshland to mitigate silt runoff that constantly has to be dredged.

The master plan allows for development.

But because there's a 30-foot height limit west of Interstate 5 that can only be lifted by the voters, highrise hotel speculators might have second thoughts.

Said Chipman: “I like to tell people, think of this as like a four-star resort, but your accommodations are campers and tents. That's the way the facilities can and should be. They should be a resort for the community and regional use."

Mobile home park residents interviewed Tuesday by NBC 7 also favor a minimalist approach going forward.

"I would be disappointed if it actually became a hotel,” said Mary Boynton. “The one thing that would be nice is to leave this area as a public access area. Because there aren't that many at the beach, there's so many private places. So it would be very nice to have it somewhere where anybody can come and enjoy it."

Added Connie Nott: "It's a beautiful spot, it's public access. As long as they make it public access and don't make it some elite thing where the people of San Diego can't enjoy it, then I think that's pretty good."

Aside from the prospect of competing commercial interests, some environmentalists have another priority for the property.

"There are some people who say this entire area should be marshland,” Chipman acknowledged. “The downside of that is we push the recreational opportunities away.”

Chipman figures it costs a family of four $300 a night to stay in a Mission Bay hotel; $100 a night for even more to camp on the waterfront: “It is the low-cost opportunity for people to stay overnight at the bay," he said.

Future plans for the site go before the City Council Smart Growth & Land Use committee in February.

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