The San Diego City Council voted Monday to extend and expand an RV resort’s lease to cover an abandoned mobile home park in Mission Bay for a much-needed makeover.
In a 6-to-3 vote, the council approved Campland on the Bay’s proposal to renovate and use the De Anza Cove mobile home park.
The 70-acre park is home to 170 rundown homes, some even filled with asbestos. But beneath the dilapidated mobile homes lies prime real estate.
Campland on the Bay will take over the De Anza Cove park in a lease that could last until 2026. This will give the city time to decide what to do with the land in the long-run. The current operator’s lease for the site ends in a week.
“What we’re focused on today is a short-term cleanup and improvement project for De Anza Cove that’s going to make the whole property safer, cleaner and more vibrant and fun,” said Jacob Gelfand, vice president of operations for Campland on the Bay.
Campland on the Bay agreed to spend $8 million to clean up the property, including upgrades in security, gas and electric, and more. In return, the city will grant the company $8 million in rent credits.
The company plans to clear out the existing mobile homes and develop 150 new campsites.
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“I’m feeling really energized because this has been a long time coming for the City of San Diego. There are so many people who love the De Anza Cove property and want to see it treated right, and they want to see it become a vibrant place for families to enjoy once again,” Gelfand told NBC 7.
And while some residents are happy campers with the vote, the proposal had some opposition by environmentalist groups who wanted the area to return to something akin to a nature preserve.
“Let’s make a park for the next hundred years instead of securing the land use that’s the way it’s been for the last hundred years,” said Andrew Meyer with the San Diego Audubon Society.
Members of the San Diego Audubon Society claimed the proposal was rushed with little input from the community.
“I think the secondary proposal to give more power to council showed that the council was uneasy about this. This was happening so quickly, and council had very little time,” said Chris Redfern, executive director of the San Diego Audubon Society. “So, I think they were playing catch up all along, and I think that caused the unease today in council, and I think that unease is only going to continue and grow over time.”
Now, both sides will wait for the California Coastal Commission to weigh in on the proposal.
