SAN DIEGO – The San Diego City Council has unanimously voted to support AB 2525, which would exempt lands within Mission Bay Park from being declared as surplus and reused for housing.
The Surplus Land Act aims to make local public land no longer needed for government purposes available for building affordable homes. Under state law, once a property is declared surplus land, priority has to be given first to offering it for bid to affordable housing developers.
Authored by 78th Assemblymember Chris Ward of San Diego, AB 2525 was introduced in the state legislature on Feb. 20 prior to the council’s debating and supporting the bill on April 14.
Councilmember Jennifer Campbell, whose District 2 includes much of Mission Bay Park, spoke in favor of Ward’s legislation.
“AB 2525 provides important clarity to protect Mission Bay Park, the largest man-made aquatic park in the United States,” she said. “It has long been protected as dedicated park space with several items — the State Tidelands Law, the City Charter, the Mission Bay Park Master Plan, and voter-approved measures — that protect it.
“All make clear that this land must remain devoted as park space, and that residential development is not allowed here.”
While the Surplus Land Act plays an important role in addressing California’s housing needs, its requirements simply do not fit in with places like Mission Bay Park, where housing is prohibited, Campbell added. AB 2525 provides the clarity that land within Mission Bay Park should not be subject to the Surplus Land Act, and that Mission Bay Park must remain a protected park for future generations.
“Supporting this bill means respecting the will of San Diego voters who have repeatedly chosen to safeguard the park, and the other multiple measures that are in law that protect the park,” Campbell said.
District 7 Councilmember Raul Campillo concurred with Campbell’s view on the bill.
“Mission Bay is unique and irreplaceable,” he said. “It’s a public resource and should be accessible and protected for generations to come.
“It’s important to pass AB 2525 because of the inherent linguistic conflict within the Surplus Lands Act that suggests that we have to make a good-faith negotiation for housing on a piece of land that our voters and the Mission Bay Master Plan say there won’t be housing on.”
He added that it is a “necessary piece of legislation.”
“This Assembly bill is incredibly important because it does create the backstop that prevents Sacramento laws from overriding what the voters of San Diego have done both in the City Charter, as well as the votes that created the Mission Bay Master Plan,” noted City Council President Joe LaCava in closing remarks.
“This is just a shield against Sacramento overreach in trying to prevent, what everybody always says, which is that Mission Bay is not the place for housing. We have plenty of opportunities to provide the housing that San Diegans need — not in Mission Bay.”
AB 2525 would exempt lands within San Diego’s Mission Bay Park from certain requirements for the disposal of surplus land, which are regulations governing how local government agencies sell or lease excess property.
