The City of Chula Vista will be releasing a survey with conceptual designs of Harborside Park for the community’s consideration in April to identify what themes and features the community would like to see in the future facility.
The survey will be conducted at pop-up events at surrounding businesses and at community events such as South Bay Earth Day on April 15 at the Chula Vista Bayfront Park and the Day of the Child Event on April 22 at Memorial Park.
“This is a very challenging problem, but I think we are heading in the right direction. The key is making sure that we help and get input from the neighborhood members because it is the Harborside Community, and we want to elevate it and make it the best possible,” said Mayor John McCann during a March City Council meeting.
The City Council approved a temporary 90-day closure of the 5-acre park located on Oxford Street between Broadway and Industrial Boulevard in late August 2022 due to public health and public safety concerns. Since the park’s closure, the city has cleared homeless encampments and installed a chain-linked fence.
The total temporary close of the park costs the city nearly $350,000.
The city participated in two forums in June and July to address parent and community concerns. City officials determined after evauluation that a temporary closure at Harborside Park was needed in order to implement safety measures, including the installation of fencing around the perimeter of the park and contracting security guards.
City officials held a connect event to link individuals impacted by the closure who are willing to accept services with resources with the goal to move them toward permanent housing. According to the city’s Director of Housing and Homeless Services Stacy Kurz, the closure provided city staff to evaluate long-term solutions with the community, and make necessary repairs before re-opening.
During the Fall of 2022, the city used a series of in-person and online outreach strategies to get all community stakeholders involved with the goal of developing short-term and long-term solutions. Over 300 people were engaged in the overall process, including 184 surveys that were collected.
“Overall the community has provided an overwhelming response that they would like to see a recreational facility placed at Harborside Park to maintain outdoor amenities, but also to create indoor spaces for community and recreational programming,” Kurz said during a city council meeting last month.
According to the survey responses, community members said they would like to see the future site include classrooms, a water feature, exercise opportunities, and a playground. The community emphasized that they would like long-term safety solutions implemented before the park is reopened, even on a temporary basis.
According to Kurtz, this led city management to extend the temporary closure as we continue to work with the surrounding community. Kurz said the City has worked with the community in the past few months, including members of the community police unit at the Brentwood Mobile Home park to address specific safety concerns for their community.
“We are currently engaged with landscape architect firms to develop conceptual designs that implement the amenities and features identified by the community,” Kurz said. “We are also working on new security plans for both interim and long-term solutions.”
The city anticipates presenting at the Parks and Recreation Commission in the next couple of months. Kurz said city management will return to the city council in May to provide survey results. City management will also provide recommendations for phased improvements, which will include more permanent fencing and consideration of funding to re-open the park.
According to Kurz, the report will also include the next steps toward a master plan for the park site with the ultimate goal of creating a community center at that site.
