San Diego Convention Center Expansion

Month	October
Year	2013
Summary	A 740,000 sq. ft. expansion of the San Diego Convention Center with a 5-acre rooftop park and construction of a new Hilton Hotel Tower with 500 rooms, 55,000 sq. ft. of meeting-ballroom space.
Outcome
Outcome Description	Unanimous vote for approval. Commissioner Cox argued that the previously agreed to mitigation that reduced the size of the expansion and preserved a portion of the viewshed was unnecessary and could be deleted. A majority of the Commission disagreed and the “notch” remained. In response to concerns expressed by Commission Garcia and others over the lack of visibility of the rooftop park, the Port agreed to provide an additional $500,000 for better signage and design.
Why You Should Care	This vote allowed the shoreline to be “walled off” forever from the public. The Center was allowed to build on top of the very park that was mitigation for the last expansion. All this while there was available, viable space right across the street.
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Decision Type	Coastal Development Permit
Staff Recommendation	Denial of project due to significant impacts to visual quality and public access; substantial loss of limited waterfront open space, removal of existing waterfront park that was mitigation for a prior expansion, and encroachment into existing viewshed.
Staff Report	http://documents.coastal.ca.gov/reports/2013/10/Th25d-10-2013.pdf
Lobbyist/Agent	Susan McCabe
Opposition to Project	Opponents argued that there was a lack of transparency in the local process, and that non-contiguous alternatives should have been considered that would have minimized the negative impacts to public access, viewshed and recreational areas.
Coastal Act Policies	30210, 30211, 30212, 30220, 30221, 30251, 30708, and 30709