Port OKs $50-Million Plan to Expand Seaport Village

Port commissioners approved a revised $50-million conceptual plan Tuesday to more than double the size of Seaport Village.

The San Diego Unified Port District accepted, almost to the letter, a resolution proposed by Seaport Village attorney Richard Burt, in which the developer agreed to delete a proposed Ferris wheel and plant more trees and landscaping around a five-story parking garage to hide it.

CCDC Report Ignored

In approving the developer’s version, the board almost entirely ignored a seven-page report prepared by the Centre City Development Corp., which called for eliminating parking on the roof of the garage and removing several existing structures at Seaport Village to prevent the development from forming a visual wall between the city and the harbor.

Although the CCDC has no official say in the final development of Seaport Village, the commissioners postponed approval of the plans at their last meeting Dec. 20, saying they wanted suggestions from CCDC, the City Council and other interested agencies before voting.

The City Council responded Tuesday with a request that the decision be postponed another 60 days so it could examine the plan, but the commissioners rejected the request on a 5-2 vote.

“This thing has been studied to death,” Commissioner Milford Portwood said. “That was an eleventh-hour request. They’ve had plenty of time.”

Only commission Chairman Louis Wolfsheimer voted against the revised plans, acknowledging a duty to the San Diego City Council, which appointed him.

“A lot has been done to ameliorate the problems in the area,” Wolfsheimer said, “but certainly the CCDC has a right to be concerned, and the City Council has a right to look the plan over first.”

Several residents spoke against the expansion at the board’s Dec. 20 meeting, most of them concerned about the height and appearance of the parking garage.

Subsequently, Seaport Village architects proposed adding columns to the building to give it visual interest, adding planter boxes along the exterior with cascading plants and increasing the amount of surface landscaping surrounding it. The revised design, as presented Tuesday, was approved by the board with the condition that additional plantings be placed on the top level to “soften” the view.

6-Theater Complex Included

Tuesday’s vote also gave tentative approval to a controversial six-theater cinema complex at the old police station on Market Street. Some of the commissioners previously expressed reservations about the type of customer the movie theaters would draw, but Seaport Village attorney Burt said the theaters were essential to the success of the project.

“It’s very important to bring people down there at night to have dinner, shop and enjoy a movie,” Burt said. The board accepted Burt’s proposal that the cinemas be approved, with the Port District reserving the right to make Seaport Village close the theaters if problems develop.

Seaport Village also agreed to delete its plans for construction of a pier with a restaurant and Ferris wheel--but reserved the right to reapply for construction of the pier as a separate project.

The developer, San Diego Seaport Village Ltd., will return to the Port District in July for approval of schematic plans for the expansion. When completed, the project would increase the size of Seaport Village by 166%. The 253,075-square-foot expansion encompasses the abandoned police station and includes a man-made lagoon.

The entire project is scheduled for completion in September, 1992.