Coastal Commission to Consider San Diego Timeshare Hotel Project

By Ed Joyce / Reporter, KPBS Public Broadcasting

Published January 9, 2008 at 11:02 AM PST

This story was published more than 16 years ago.

The Port of San Diego wants to redevelop four acres of land on Harbor Island. The Port is asking the state coastal commission to approve the plan. KPBS reporter Ed Joyce has details.

The Port of San Diego wants to redevelop four acres of land on Harbor Island . The Port is asking the state coastal commission to approve the plan. KPBS reporter Ed Joyce has details.

The Port wants to use the property for a 140-suite hotel-resort development that would include 40 timeshare units. But the Port needs the approval of the state coastal commission.

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Coastal Commissioners already rejected a development permit for the Woodfin Suites Timeshare Hotel on the same property. Now the Port is asking Commissioners to approve a change in the Port Master Plan that would pave the way for the project.

But Graham Forbes with the San Diego Hotel-Restaurant Employees Union says the timeshares limit public use.

Forbes : The Coastal Act is very clear in terms of providing adequate supply of affordable accommodations for folks. And we also feel that timeshares go against that and that they restrict access for a large number of folks.

Developers like the timeshares since they can get upfront money by selling the units to finance the project. The Coastal Commission holds a public hearing on the Port's request Thursday in Los Angeles.

Ed Joyce, KPBS News.

Ed Joyce

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Ed Joyce was the environment reporter and afternoon news anchor for KPBS-FM. Before joining KPBS, he worked as an editor/columnist with Copley News Service in San Diego. Ed has an extensive background in newspaper, radio, web and TV journalism. After graduating with a B.A. in Communications from the University of Washington in Seattle, Ed began a career in broadcast journalism. His work has included stints in public broadcasting, commercial broadcasting and education -- working as an affiliate professor of communication and reporter at the University of Idaho and Washington State University in Pullman, Wash. During the past 20 years he has worked in radio, TV and print as a news reporter, anchor, writer, editor and producer. Along the way he has won numerous awards for general news reporting, newswriting, feature and issue reporting and breaking news reporting from The Associated Press, The Society of Professional Journalists, San Diego Press Club and other organizations. During the mid-1990s, while working for Oregon Public Broadcasting, he was a frequent contributor to National Public Radio, including a feature report on the memorial service for 14 U.S. Forest Service "hotshots" who died fighting a wildfire in Colorado (the crew was based in a central Oregon town). He’s also filed reports with Marketplace, KQED’s California Report and Climate Watch and with national and regional networks throughout the United States. At KPBS, Ed continues his contributions to National Public Radio and other national and regional news organizations. He has won awards from the Society of Professional Journalists and San Diego Press Club for his environmental reporting at KPBS-FM-TV and for producing and anchoring radio newscasts. In 2007 he was selected a National Press Foundation fellow for Understanding Violent Weather II program. The seminars were held at the National Weather Center in Norman, Okla. In 2008 he spoke at a UC San Diego conference on U.S. National Security as part of the school’s Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation. Ed led a discussion with the 18 foreign government officials and academics about the political debate over climate change. In 2010, Ed was elected to a three-year term on the board of the San Diego Press Club.

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