The city kicked everyone out of Harborside Park in Chula Vista and put up a chain link fence on Aug. 31, 2022, and it hasn’t reopened since.
That’s expected to change within the next six months, according to Chula Vista Mayor John McCann.
“We’re bringing it back,” Mayor McCann said while standing outside the fence Monday. “We’re going to open Phase One.”
Trouble at Harborside Park
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By mid-2022, dozens of people who are homeless set up tents in Harborside Park, which borders Harborside Elementary School. Chula Vista police and city park rangers said drug use and other crimes were rampant.
“It was horrible. It was a health and safety issue,” said McCann. “We just had to be able to clean it up ... We couldn’t have families bring their children here because of the drugs and the illicit criminal activity.”
Mayor McCann said the chain link fence will remain up for about six more months as the city resurfaces the basketball courts, which will reopen to the public first.
“We’ve cleaned it up. Now we’re going to upgrade it,” he said.
McCann added they’ll begin regrowing the grass and work on plans for the rest of the park. The mayor admitted he’d love to add a new recreation center, but that would be a part of Phase Two which hasn’t been planned yet. The Chula Vista City Council will discuss the future of the park during its Tuesday night meeting.
McCann said a new park ranger station will be a part of the new Harborside Park, “So they can keep an eye on the park and enforce the rules.”
As for the residents who set up tents in the park, McCann said the city has its own Homeless Outreach Team and a new bridge shelter to help people work their way off the streets.
