Terra Vista Management has run Campland at Mission Bay Park for years, and they’re the company that’s cleaning up the enormous mess that is the old De Anza Point Mobile Home Park.
The company plans to turn it into campsites with some of the most beautiful views imaginable.
KPBS talked about the plans with Terra Vista Chief Operating Officer Jacob Gelfand, who says they include "installing new campsites which utilize the existing infrastructure that’s always been here, and then making really necessary long deferred repairs to this incredible bike and pedestrian path going around the cove and then landscaping remediation and road repairs. That sort of thing."
It is a monumental task; the property has nearly 170 abandoned mobile homes in various states of decay.
“[It's] $8 million worth of work and it involves the abatement of these homes, most of which have lead and asbestos," Gelfand said.
No one has lived on the city-owned property since 2019. After pandemic-related delays and lots of regulatory hurdles to jump through, Terra Vista finally received approval from the California Coastal Commission last month to clean the place up.
But before any of the lead and asbestos abatement, before the dilapidated places can be removed, something else has to happen first.
“A lot of these homes are really full of garbage and trash that was left over from the former residents or people that broke in at some point," Gelfand said.
When all the work is complete, Gelfand said this will be a beautiful and — relatively speaking — affordable place for people to camp, an extension of Campland where people can enjoy the beauty and recreational fun to be had at Mission Bay Park.
But as they have for years, Campland is facing opposition from some environmental groups, including the San Diego Audubon Society, who say there needs to be a lot more wetland restoration here, and that will mean getting rid of some of Campland.
“The Kendall Frost Marsh which we’re looking at here ... is the only remaining habitat that we have in Mission Bay for endangered species, for water quality protection, for sea level rise resilience and for access to education and community space like this," said Andrew Meyer, Director of Conservation for the San Diego Audubon Society.
Meyer told KPBS the Audubon Society is not against camping. In fact, he said, they favor camping opportunities in the area.
But he also said the city’s master plan now calls for 700 acres of wetlands by 2035, and he said this area is the best place to get much of that wetland restoration.
“This is the exact right time for the city to be thinking about this because they are in their De Anza land use planning process, and they have the power to say camping should stay, here’s what we want it to look like and it should be right here," said Meyer.
City leaders still have to decide whether to use Campland property for wetlands, and if so, how much.
Meyer also said the Kumeyaay tribe should be considered as this was all their native ancestral land.
But for now, both sides wait on the city’s decision; one that may very well move the ultimate fate of this land to be decided by the courts.
-
San Diego County may not be immune from a punishing drought threatening the supply of Colorado River water. -
The FDA gave emergency use authorization to the booster today and a CDC panel review is scheduled Thursday.
