Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Too much salt of the earth in O.B.

Entryway dedication delayed due to incomplete landscaping

Like a bowl of bad soup, there’s too much salt in the soil at the North Ocean Beach Gateway Project — and the flaw could push into next year the long-awaited completion of the quarter-acre mini-park at the corner of Sunset Cliffs and West Point Loma boulevards. A tentatively scheduled ribbon-cutting for November 20 now appears to be beyond reach.

The soil has already failed two tests and the city is awaiting results of the third, said Monica Muñoz, a spokesperson for the city’s Public Works Department. Each failed test brings more delays. It takes about 15 days to get results back, Muñoz said.

Sponsored
Sponsored

The city lacks a suitable facility to test the soil and must send the samples to a lab in Anaheim, a construction employee on site said. A contractor has been adding more topsoil and water in an attempt to reduce the salt content. Nothing may be planted until the soil meets city standards, Muñoz said.

The soil problem is the latest in a string of setbacks that has plagued the project’s second phase, which consists of decorative walls, landscaping, an irrigation system and an ADA-compliant walkway that meanders from the corner south to adjacent Robb Field. Phase II was originally envisioned as a six-month project to be completed by August of 2013 at a cost of $150,000, city documents show. But problems finding a contractor and budget issues delayed the groundbreaking until last June.

The city now estimates completion in February of 2015 at a cost of $401,000, according to a city estimate as of November 1. City councilmember Ed Harris, whose District 2 seat includes Ocean Beach, hoped for a ribbon-cutting before his term ends on December 10 as a way to express gratitude to the Ocean Beach Community Development Corporation and other civic groups, aide Chet Barfield said. It’s unclear whether a grand-opening ceremony can take place by that date, when election winner Lorie Zapf takes over.

The first phase of the project was completed in January of 2011 at a cost of just over $845,000. It consisted of a circular plaza with a shell art pattern and “People’s Wall” with memorial bricks and tiles. The park is located at the site of the former Anthony’s Restaurant, which was purchased in 1999 to make way for the project.

The entire project, also known as the Ocean Beach Entryway Plan, was started in 1997 with the hiring of a consultant to develop a master plan, according to the Ocean Beach Community Development Corporation website. The goal, it states, was to develop an entryway on the north end of Sunset Cliffs Boulevard that “would respect the sense of place, identity and diversity of the Ocean Beach Community.”

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

San Diego beaches not that nice to dogs

Bacteria and seawater itself not that great
Next Article

East San Diego County has only one bike lane

So you can get out of town – from Santee to Tierrasanta

Like a bowl of bad soup, there’s too much salt in the soil at the North Ocean Beach Gateway Project — and the flaw could push into next year the long-awaited completion of the quarter-acre mini-park at the corner of Sunset Cliffs and West Point Loma boulevards. A tentatively scheduled ribbon-cutting for November 20 now appears to be beyond reach.

The soil has already failed two tests and the city is awaiting results of the third, said Monica Muñoz, a spokesperson for the city’s Public Works Department. Each failed test brings more delays. It takes about 15 days to get results back, Muñoz said.

Sponsored
Sponsored

The city lacks a suitable facility to test the soil and must send the samples to a lab in Anaheim, a construction employee on site said. A contractor has been adding more topsoil and water in an attempt to reduce the salt content. Nothing may be planted until the soil meets city standards, Muñoz said.

The soil problem is the latest in a string of setbacks that has plagued the project’s second phase, which consists of decorative walls, landscaping, an irrigation system and an ADA-compliant walkway that meanders from the corner south to adjacent Robb Field. Phase II was originally envisioned as a six-month project to be completed by August of 2013 at a cost of $150,000, city documents show. But problems finding a contractor and budget issues delayed the groundbreaking until last June.

The city now estimates completion in February of 2015 at a cost of $401,000, according to a city estimate as of November 1. City councilmember Ed Harris, whose District 2 seat includes Ocean Beach, hoped for a ribbon-cutting before his term ends on December 10 as a way to express gratitude to the Ocean Beach Community Development Corporation and other civic groups, aide Chet Barfield said. It’s unclear whether a grand-opening ceremony can take place by that date, when election winner Lorie Zapf takes over.

The first phase of the project was completed in January of 2011 at a cost of just over $845,000. It consisted of a circular plaza with a shell art pattern and “People’s Wall” with memorial bricks and tiles. The park is located at the site of the former Anthony’s Restaurant, which was purchased in 1999 to make way for the project.

The entire project, also known as the Ocean Beach Entryway Plan, was started in 1997 with the hiring of a consultant to develop a master plan, according to the Ocean Beach Community Development Corporation website. The goal, it states, was to develop an entryway on the north end of Sunset Cliffs Boulevard that “would respect the sense of place, identity and diversity of the Ocean Beach Community.”

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

At Comedor Nishi a world of cuisines meet for brunch

A Mexican eatery with Japanese and French influences
Next Article

Secrets of Resilience in May's Unforgettable Memoir

Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader