Harborside Park will remain closed into the new year, but Chula Vista city officials are looking for short-term access to the park as long-term solutions develop.
The City Council approved a temporary 90-day closure of the park located on Oxford Street between Broadway and Industrial Boulevard in late August due to public health and public safety concerns. City Manager Maria Kachadoorian said it would remain closed for an additional three months.
For months, parents of Harborside Elementary School Students have expressed concern about the increased number of encampments, illicit activity, and illegal behavior behind the school, putting the safety and well-being of students at risk. A fence and tarp are the only dividers between students and the park to end illicit activities.
With the city still in its public outreach phase, Kachadoorian said there are still budgetary considerations from the council.
“We are looking for short-term access to the park because the long-term plans that we are looking at, including the potential progression of a rec center, a senior center, is going to require a lot of planning and a lot of fundraising. That is going to take time, so we are trying to find a way where can open up some parts of the park, put up a permanent fence and continue to include security. We are still in the outreach phase, and we would have to come back to the council as a part of the budget for funding. We need to reinvest in this park before we open it,” Kachadoorian said.
A total of 184 completed survey responses from Chula Vista residents, business owners, and students found that if the park were to temporarily open, the community mostly wants accessibility to the walking path and multipurpose field.
In the survey, participants were asked to provide possible short-term and long-term solutions to the park. Nearly 70 percent of community members said they did not want the city to temporarily open while long-term solutions were developing.
According to the city’s Director of Housing & Homeless Services Stacy Kurtz, Most respondents wanted to see long-term solutions around the unsheltered population, and safety concerns, and many expressed concerns the park would regress to its previous condition of reopened without more thoughtfulness.
Community members who said they wanted to see the park reopened temporarily said they would most likely access it Monday through Friday from 3 p.m. through the dusk, Saturday and Sunday from noon to dusk. When asked about what amenities community members would like to see should the park reopen on a temporary basis, 70 percent said they would like to see a walking path, 52 percent said they would like to see a multipurpose field, 42 percent said they would like to see a basketball court, and 28 percent said they would like to see a skate park.
The city asked community members to rank possible long-term solutions, and the following were selected from highest to lowest ranked: A recreation center, keep it a park, a senior center, and affordable homes.
According to Kurtz, the community overwhelmingly did not like the idea of adorable housing, although it would not replace the park.
“The reason that we asked that question was that one of the concerns that we have found in the process of Harborside and other parks is that when there are no eyes there 24 hours a day, problems can erupt and they're not taking care of in an efficient manner,” Kurtz said.
Kurtz said the city did not continue to ask questions surrounding affordable housing beyond the survey but continued to dive into the possibility of a community center and what the community would like to see. Responses include classrooms for programs, a swimming pool, a playground, and an exercise park.
Many changes came along with the closure of Harborside park, including the installation of 24-hour security and fencing at the park, increased security at the nearby County Health and Human Services Building, Harborside Elementary has installed cameras, and the nearby Brentwood Mobile Home park is working on instituting a neighborhood watch.
The city said it is still on track to complete the Chula Vista Bridge Shelter in January 2023 at 205 27th Street. The city’s Homeless Solutions Manager Angelica Davis said sidewalks around the perimeter of the property, water, sewer, electrical and the pads have been completed.
“They’re just waiting for the shelters to be built and delivered,” Davis said, noting the pre-fabricated pallet homes in storage.
