Mission Bay Park’s Growth Goes to Ballot

Adding to a growing list of November ballot issues, the San Diego City Council late Tuesday agreed to ask voters to approve a City Charter amendment limiting the amount of commercial development in Mission Bay Regional Park.

But council members decided to wait until next year to ask voters to approve a city-imposed cigarette tax of 10%. The proposal will miss a spot on the November ballot as city officials check legal ramifications of the measure.

Council members took action on the the ballot measures shortly before midnight Tuesday at the end of a protracted meeting about the interim development ordinance.

Earlier in the week, the council had approved ballot spots for other initiatives, including lifting the Gann limits on city spending, changing the name of Martin Luther King Jr. Way back to Market Street, permitting the development of the 5,100-acre La Jolla Valley project, the moot issue of stopping commercial development at the Belmont Park Plunge building and a $93-million bond issue for capital improvements at Mission Bay and Balboa parks.

Curtailing Commercial Uses

The proposed charter amendment to limit commercial development in the Mission Bay park area came after Mayor Maureen O’Connor suggested that the council consider a ballot measure to curtail commercial uses in all city parks.

O’Connor’s suggestion, however, came as the deadline for ballot proposals neared, and she admitted that many of the details would have to be worked out.

As a counter suggestion, Councilman Mike Gotch proposed asking voters to ratify a 1962 city policy that limits the amount of commercial development at Mission Bay to 25% of its 1,887 acres of dedicated park land. Currently, 24.8% of the land is leased for commercial purposes, primarily hotels and the De Anza trailer park.

As a city policy, it would only take five votes on the City Council to increase the 25% limit and allow even more commercialization, said Gotch aide Mike Haas.

But if a majority of voters ratify the policy, making it part of the charter, any change of the limit would require another citywide vote and a two-thirds majority to pass, he said.

“That’s exciting,” O’Connor said Wednesday. “We have an opportunity to preserve 75% of the park as a park. . . . This way, it would be written into the charter and would become law.

“I’m going to keep pushing for (voter-sanctioned limits) for Balboa Park and other parks,” O’Connor said.

Delay Cigarette Tax Vote

While the council advanced that proposal, it fell back on another measure intended to raise money by slapping a 10% local tax on cigarettes.

The idea for the local tax came up earlier this month in a council committee meeting and could raise $11 million in extra revenue. If passed, however, the city would have to forfeit $3 million it now received in state cigarette tax money.

But Assistant City Atty. Curtis M. Fitzpatrick told council members late Tuesday that lawyers for the state equalization board said the city does not have the power to impose the local cigarette tax. The equalization board collects the state tobacco tax and distributes it to cities.

Rather than put the so-called “sin” tax on the November ballot, council members decided to put in on the shelf. They asked the city attorney’s office to investigate the legal ramifications and report back in the fall.

If it is determined the city can impose the tax, the proposal can be put on the ballot next year, in June or November, Fitzpatrick said.