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

Dog owners win the battle of Fiesta Island

Paddleboarders and boaters lose option for six-acre fenced area

Most of Fiesta Island is now an off leash dog park.
Most of Fiesta Island is now an off leash dog park.

Few who enjoy the outdoors on Fiesta Island care that it's a man-made landscape. Its 470 acres and six miles of shoreline, part of the much larger Mission Bay Park, are a rare find in the middle of San Diego.

Endangered least terns like it, too.

But the threat - or promise - of development has been looming over the island as the city amends its Mission Bay Park Master Plan. On June 10, a long fight to keep the dog park intact ended, when the California Coastal Commission voted 6-5 to leave it as is.

While most of the island is now an off-leash dog park, the city has been studying two potential land use scenarios for the 100-acre southwest subarea, one that would put a two-lane road and fences right through doggie playland.

Sponsored
Sponsored
Option A

Option A, preferred by watercraft users and environmentalists, would use six acres of shoreline in the dog park as a public park for swimming and a non-motorized boat dock.

Dog owners revolted, petitioning the city for an alternative design in their environmental review.

During public review, broad support for leaving the dog park untouched led the city in 2019 to settle on Option B - riling boaters and paddlers who have been part of the planning process since 2005.

The Coastal Commission has opposed Option B all along, calling out longstanding impediments to public access to the southern shoreline, including a 1/2 mile walk to the main parking lot, and pointing to a "failing" least tern nesting site at the northern end.

The island has two federally endangered least tern nesting sites, managed by the city in partnership with U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.

Commission staff recommended rejecting the city's proposed amendment. Instead, they suggested modifications that would enable kayakers and paddle boarders to launch from the new dock, families to use the new playground and swimming area with a lifeguard, and everyone to benefit from the new parking lot and restroom.

Option B

Supporters called for more storage and launch space for non-motorized watercraft, urging a vote for the new amenities.

Several speakers spoke about the importance of the open space to walkers and others for affordable recreation. San Diego Audubon Society, which supports Option A, called for a better access road for pedestrians, wheelchair users and bikes.

Option A would still keep a large 87-acre parcel for off-leash dogs in the southwestern area, while enhancing coastal access for uses like boating and swimming, commissioners said.

Currently, there's an "underutilized half mile stretch of beach" that could be used by a broader range of the public.

Dog park advocate Kathy Parrish agreed that parts of the island see a lot less visitors. "Very few people use the south shores. Tens of thousands use the fenced-off area."

The latest copy of the Reader

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

Memories of bonfires amid the pits off Palm

Before it was Ocean View Hills, it was party central
Most of Fiesta Island is now an off leash dog park.
Most of Fiesta Island is now an off leash dog park.

Few who enjoy the outdoors on Fiesta Island care that it's a man-made landscape. Its 470 acres and six miles of shoreline, part of the much larger Mission Bay Park, are a rare find in the middle of San Diego.

Endangered least terns like it, too.

But the threat - or promise - of development has been looming over the island as the city amends its Mission Bay Park Master Plan. On June 10, a long fight to keep the dog park intact ended, when the California Coastal Commission voted 6-5 to leave it as is.

While most of the island is now an off-leash dog park, the city has been studying two potential land use scenarios for the 100-acre southwest subarea, one that would put a two-lane road and fences right through doggie playland.

Sponsored
Sponsored
Option A

Option A, preferred by watercraft users and environmentalists, would use six acres of shoreline in the dog park as a public park for swimming and a non-motorized boat dock.

Dog owners revolted, petitioning the city for an alternative design in their environmental review.

During public review, broad support for leaving the dog park untouched led the city in 2019 to settle on Option B - riling boaters and paddlers who have been part of the planning process since 2005.

The Coastal Commission has opposed Option B all along, calling out longstanding impediments to public access to the southern shoreline, including a 1/2 mile walk to the main parking lot, and pointing to a "failing" least tern nesting site at the northern end.

The island has two federally endangered least tern nesting sites, managed by the city in partnership with U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.

Commission staff recommended rejecting the city's proposed amendment. Instead, they suggested modifications that would enable kayakers and paddle boarders to launch from the new dock, families to use the new playground and swimming area with a lifeguard, and everyone to benefit from the new parking lot and restroom.

Option B

Supporters called for more storage and launch space for non-motorized watercraft, urging a vote for the new amenities.

Several speakers spoke about the importance of the open space to walkers and others for affordable recreation. San Diego Audubon Society, which supports Option A, called for a better access road for pedestrians, wheelchair users and bikes.

Option A would still keep a large 87-acre parcel for off-leash dogs in the southwestern area, while enhancing coastal access for uses like boating and swimming, commissioners said.

Currently, there's an "underutilized half mile stretch of beach" that could be used by a broader range of the public.

Dog park advocate Kathy Parrish agreed that parts of the island see a lot less visitors. "Very few people use the south shores. Tens of thousands use the fenced-off area."

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

Hike off those holiday calories, Poinsettias are peaking

Winter Solstice is here and what is winter?
Next Article

East San Diego County has only one bike lane

So you can get out of town – from Santee to Tierrasanta
Comments
This comment was removed by the site staff for violation of the usage agreement.
July 4, 2021
This comment was removed by the site staff for violation of the usage agreement.
Sept. 29, 2021
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