Howdy ReWild Coalition,
Last Thursday (December 7, 2023), we showed up at the Planning Commission Committee to advocate for a better plan for the ReWild area. The meeting lasted almost 6 hours and at the end, the Planning Commissioners voted unanimously to support the City’s De Anza Natural Plan. We didn’t get any of the things we were advocating for; the Commission didn’t improve the plan’s misleading SLR analysis, didn’t commit the City to stronger regulatory review or stronger language about living shorelines, didn’t safeguard public access to our shared shoreline, and didn’t add more wetland acreage to start.
But we also prevented the Commission from weakening the plan, which was a real possibility. All the other interest groups want fewer acres of restored wetlands so they get more acres for their use.
The Commission did not:
· lower the wetland acreage,
· weaken the language about using flexible, responsive infrastructure on De Anza peninsula,
· tie progress here to other long-range and complex plans,
· allow motorized boats in the mini-cove, or
· add language about existing land uses not changing in the coming decades.
In fact, the Commission Chair admitted that adaptive management of the area will provide more wetland acreage as sea level rise forces the City’s hand.
We had a great turnout, both in person and online. It was great that both Tommy Hough and Rebecca Schwartz-Lesberg, previous staff that have guided and led this project, were on the phone telling the City what’s up—the Coalition is a great big family! Thanks to everyone who was able to comment in support of prioritizing wetlands. AAP, BikeSD, Business For Good, CNPS, Coastal Policy Solutions, ECO SD, EHL, Friends of Famosa Slough, Friends of Rose Canyon, Friends of Rose Creek, Outdoor Outreach, Renascence, Coastkeeper, Sierra Club, SDPCA, STAY COOL and more for taking the time to push the City towards the park we need for the coming century.
The City’s plan will next be reviewed by the Environment Committee, then City Council and after by the Coastal Commission. ReWild is the best plan to restore wetlands for habitat and wildlife, improve water quality, improve recreation in the park and to meet the City’s Climate Action Plan benchmarks.
Click here for the whole video of the Planning Commission meeting. Here’s the UT article about the meeting, and last week, Mission Bay Flyfishing Company had an interview with NBC San Diego. Tyler’s interview shows how important our project is for many people and even small businesses like his in San Diego. See the video here.
We would like to end this email by saying Happy December and we’ll see you next year! Let’s ReWild Mission Bay!
Respectfully,
Chris and Andrew and team