Commission Rejects Bayfront Hotel Project

By Ed Joyce / Reporter, KPBS Public Broadcasting

Published December 15, 2006 at 8:05 AM PST

This story was published more than 17 years ago.

The California State Lands Commission rejected a hotel-timeshare project after a two-hour hearing in San Diego Thursday afternoon, because it restricted public access to San Diego Bay. Developers want

The California State Lands Commission rejected a hotel-timeshare project after a two-hour hearing in San Diego Thursday afternoon, because it restricted public access to San Diego Bay. Developers wanted to build an eight-story hotel on Harbor Island near Lindberg Field. KPBS Reporter Ed Joyce has more.

In what could have been a precedent-setting decision, the commissioners decided that the proposed Woodfin Suites Hotel project would limit access to the public trust lands. Those are tideland areas set aside for public access. The commission oversees those lands. The decision turned on the project's plan to sell 40 timeshare units.

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Project supporters argued that by providing a restaurant, marina services and other amenities, they were enhancing public access to the waterfront. But opponents claimed that by selling private timeshare units, the project would only benefit people that could afford to buy that access.

Opponents said if the commission approved the project, it could lead to more private development on public waterfront areas. The State Lands Commission has never approved a timeshare project on the public trust lands. The decision doesn't end the Woodfin project. The state coastal commission has final say and will consider the proposal next year. 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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