Chula Vista Mayor’s Goals Include No Toxic Dumps

Mayor Greg Cox, in his State-of-the-City address Tuesday night, named removal of toxic waste dumps, finding a site for a major four-year university and continued bayfront development as goals for the county’s second-largest city.

Other goals set by Cox include:

- Finding and developing a site for a low- and moderate-income mobile home park. The mayor said it would serve as a relocation site for residents of older mobile home parks that may be converted into residential neighborhoods.

- Development of a heritage park that would preserve homes of historical and architectural significance.

- Support for making a second entrance to San Diego harbor and for a proposal to build a peninsula similar to Shelter and Harbor islands at the foot of J Street.

- Working with the county to establish a botanical garden in Sweetwater Regional Park.

Cox talked of the city’s rapid development in the last year and said annexation of the Montgomery area caused no major transitional problems. Seventy-two city workers were added to meet the service requirements created by the 23,500 new residents.

(Chula Vista now covers about 30 square miles and has a population estimated at 114,500, said Paul Desrochers, director of city development.)

Cox said the city’s most recent redevelopment project is in the Otay Valley Road area.

“The council has strived to remove some of the less desirable land uses that have existed, including toxic waste dumps and a rendering plant. These uses are being replaced with new, clean industrial developments which are better land uses and provide more jobs to the city,” he said.

Cox also said that the development of a second harbor entrance is “a potential project of great importance to Chula Vista and all bayside communities in the South Bay.”

Both Chula Vista and National City have provided $50,000 to pursue this project, he said.

Cox also talked about the growing need for low- and moderate-income housing in the community and said he plans to ask the City Council to consider developing a mobile home park.

Cox pointed to the 1985 council-assisted development of the Eucalyptus Grove Apartments and the Terra Nova Apartments--which were financed with $45 million in bonds--as evidence of the city’s commitment to affordable housing.

Other housing projects under way include Eastlake I, El Rancho del Rey and Bonita Long Canyon. Eastlake is the first planned community to be developed in the city. The first models of new units, ranging from low- and moderate-priced housing to estate developments, are expected to open in April, he said.

Cox said the city is proceeding with its controversial Bayfront Plan, which includes a nature center and a 400-room hotel on Gunpowder Point. There are still a few roadblocks in the way, however, including a lawsuit filed by the Sierra Club challenging the California Coastal Commission’s approval of the plan.