San Diego Unified Port District Port Master Plan Amendment

This application for the Port of San Diego’s Port Master Plan Amendment (PMPA) would revise the current plan which allows for one single, high quality hotel to allow for the development of up to three separate hotels with a combined total of 500 rooms. The amendment would allow for development of a broader area of East Harbor Island and include road and traffic circle realignment. One of the 3 proposed hotels, to be developed by Sunroad Marina Partners, would be a 175-room limited service hotel with meeting and fitness space, pool, common areas, and parking.

What the amendment does not include is provision of lower cost accommodations.

While language in the PMPA attempts to address the issue by stating that 82 rooms of the proposed 500 will be midscale or economy, this does not adequately support lower cost accommodations—especially when considering the land is public trust tidelands.

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The California Constitution guarantees and the Coastal Act requires maximum access to California’s navigable waters. Meaning any development of any waterfront cannot impeded on public access. Often when hotels are built along the coast, the Commission has required on or offsite mitigation efforts to promote lower cost accommodations. Developers have continually opted to pay in-lieu fees rather than provide for affordable accommodations. To date, none of the money collected by the Commission has yet been spent to develop accommodations such as hostels, camping sites, and other lower cost facilities.

Currently, of the 8,035 overnight accommodations located on Port property, only 237 are lower cost and are embodied by the 237 RV sites located at Chula Vista RV Resort. These lands are subject to public trust and thus should be equally accessible for all regardless of income.