New plans for long-empty former landfill on Mission Bay - The San Diego Union-Tribune

New plans for long-empty former landfill on Mission Bay - The San Diego Union-Tribune

Development of the area known as South Shores has been delayed for decades by concerns over its history — industrial waste was dumped there in the 1950s

More than 100 acres of long-vacant land on the southern edge of Mission Bay might soon become a lively combination of sports fields, boat ramps, picnic areas and entertainment venues.

Development of the area San Diego officials call South Shores, just east of SeaWorld and just south of Fiesta Island, has been delayed for decades by concerns over its history as a city landfill where toxic waste was dumped in the 1950s.

But there is new urgency to develop the area, now that plans to redevelop Fiesta Island and the bay’s northeastern corner are threatening to force several Mission Bay clubs and activities either to move or to shrink their footprints.

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City officials recently launched an 18-month effort to decide which activities can take over South Shores, how many acres each will get and where on South Shores they will be located.

The city is expected to host several public meetings in coming months, including one either this winter or spring, a city spokesperson said last week.

City officials must also determine whether the landfill areas have been properly capped and what type of development would be truly safe there.

The roughly 115-acre area is now home to a small passive park, dirt trails, a concrete walkway, a shade structure and a small parking lot for the Silent Electric Flyer, a remote control miniature airplane club.

Proposals for South Shores are expected to be more ambitious than proposals for nearby areas in Mission Bay, because South Shores contains relatively little sensitive habitat and is both far from residential areas and near two freeways.

The new effort comes with city leaders nearing approval of long-awaited plans to transform much of northeast Mission Bay into climate-friendly marshland, which would leave less space for camping and boating activities.

Leaders of the Mission Bay Boat and Ski Club, which would lose the four acres it occupies on the bay’s northeast corner under the latest proposal for the area, have been told they will get a replacement spot in South Shores.

Other uses expected to battle for space in South Shores include canoe and kayak clubs. Some of the clubs are losing space in the bay’s northeast corner, while others have unsuccessfully lobbied for more space on Fiesta Island.

The City Council and the California Coastal Commission approved plans in 2021 to revamp much of mostly undeveloped Fiesta Island’s southeastern corner near SeaWorld.

Most of the 470-acre island will remain undisturbed habitat, but the southeastern corner is slated for turf fields, children’s play structures, picnic areas, camping, restrooms, public plazas, hiking trails, parking lots and a concession stand.

Several other proposed uses, including a playground, swim areas and a boat launch, were removed from the plan because they would have taken space from the Fiesta Island off-leash dog area. Those activities could get space in South Shores.

Lobbying prompts Coastal Commission to reject proposal to broaden access, uses of island’s southwestern tip

Proposals for South Shores are expected to be relatively ambitious because it isn’t subject to the same kinds of preservation concerns other areas of the bay are — it’s not an ideal spot for marshland, and the land is far from pristine because it served as a city dump.

City parks officials, who are overseeing the effort to decide how to redevelop South Shores, declined requests for interviews. But they said the Mission Bay Park Master Plan would play a role in the process.

That plan, approved in 1994 and revised in 2002, calls for South Shores to have 18 acres of recreation space, including sports fields large enough for soccer, and 40 acres of regional parkland, including large picnic areas.

The plan also calls for an amphitheater that could seat 3,000 to 5,000 people and a 16-acre commercial project that would either be an expansion of SeaWorld, an alternative tourist destination or a hotel.

It says South Shores is “uniquely suitable to a high intensity of recreation use, both public and commercial.”

Because that plan is more than 21 years old, it’s unclear whether any of those proposals remain viable.

Marcella Bothwell, chair of the city’s Parks and Recreation Board, said last week that it’s time for the city to move forward on South Shores.

“This is a beautiful area right on Mission Bay that’s underutilized,” she said. “It’s a big mound of dirt. San Diego doesn’t have any more land — it’s time to use this.”

Bothwell said her only concern is whether some or all of South Shores might still be contaminated from the years when it served as a landfill. In addition to residential trash, the area was used for industrial waste, city records show.

A study conducted between 2002 and 2006 found that land in South Shores doesn’t discharge significant contamination into the bay and that methane gas emissions are insignificant.

But the study required the city to continually monitor toxins in the area at more than a dozen locations. Samples are still taken four times a year.

The study determined that more than 2 million tons of waste were dumped in South Shores during the years it served as a landfill — 1952 to 1959. When the city aggressively dredged the bay in the 1960s, the landfill was covered by layers of material that had been dredged, the study said.

Former Councilmember Donna Frye, whose district contained the area at the time of the study, said last week that the study showed South Shores was safe for development — to a point.

“The bottom line of the study was that if no one tried to dig it up, the landfill was contained,” she said.

Frye said city leaders should demand to see soil studies and water samples and request a full environmental analysis before making any decision about which uses should go where.

Leaders of the Mission Bay Boat and Ski Club said in December that the site on South Shores city officials have chosen for them is not actually on the old landfill but is less than 1,000 feet away from it.

“I think the city has a plan to make that four acres safe,” said Steele Young, the club’s commodore.

Young said his club will be sad to lose its longtime northeast Mission Bay location, which will become a type of marshland called uplands or dunes.

“We love it, it’s been our home, and we’ve been good stewards,” he said. “We’re OK with this plan if it’s right for the city. Our only stipulation is that we have a safe, timely, affordable landing space in South Shores.”

After the City Council approves a development plan for South Shores, which is expected in 2025, that plan will be submitted to the state Coastal Commission for review and possible amendments.

Carolyn Chase, leader of the powerful lobbying group Fiesta Island Dog Owners, said her group would like to see South Shores developed to help satisfy some of the many groups competing for land in Mission Bay.

But Chase stressed that city officials are only creating a plan for the area, not actually approving specific projects. She said those projects would likely be built in phases when financing is secured, which could be many years away.

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