San Diego Unified Port District Port Master Plan Amendment

Month	August
Year	2015
Summary	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.
Outcome
Outcome Description	After hours of presentations, public comments, and Commission deliberation, the Commissioners voted to deny the PMPA due to inadequate support for lower cost accommodations in a vote of 9:2— with a majority of the Commissioners voting to deny the PMPA and Commissioners Cox and McClure voting to approve the PMPA. Chair Kinsey did offer the Port an alternative to denial prior to the Commissioners voting, to voluntarily request for postponement and waiving of the timeline additional work could be done to isolate the PMPA specifically to the Sunroad hotel project site. The Port, after internal discussion, declined the option of a continuance.
Why You Should Care	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.
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Decision Type	Port Master Plan Amendment
Staff Recommendation	Denial
Staff Report	http://documents.coastal.ca.gov/reports/2015/8/th22d-8-2015.pdf
Lobbyist/Agent	Sunroad Marina Partners, LP San Diego Unified Port District
Opposition to Project	Surfrider Foundation UNITE HERE Local 30
Coastal Act Policies	30210, 30211, 30212(a), 30213, 30220, 3020, 30252, 30253, 30708

Voting Detail for San Diego Unified Port District Port Master Plan Amendment

Individual vote detail for Issue: San Diego Unified Port District Port Master Plan Amendment

Commissioner	Vote
Effie Turnbull-Sanders
Wendy Mitchell
Erik Howell
Greg Cox
Roberto Uranga
Mary K. Shallenberger
Martha McClure
Steve Kinsey
Carole Groom
Mark Vargas
Dayna Bochco

Meeting Page

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