Port Control Sought in Planning 2nd Harbor Entrance

In a major strategy change, backers of a second harbor entrance say they want the Port District to take over the controversial project, which calls for construction of a channel through the Silver Strand.

The issue comes to a head today, when the proponents--called Second Harbor Entrance Project (SHEP)--will formally ask the Board of Port Commissioners to assume the task of doing initial environmental studies as well as working with the nearly 2 dozen government agencies with interests in or authority over the proposed cut-through.

In doing so, SHEP will drop its request for $600,000 from the San Diego Unified Port District, money that was tentatively approved last month, contingent on a more detailed agreement between the Port District and SHEP.

Don Nay, the Port District’s executive director, said Monday that he had drafted an outline of the agreement detailing which agencies--such as the Army Corps of Engineers--had jurisdiction in the matter. The $600,000 was to be given directly to SHEP and used to pinpoint environmental questions raised by each agency and to do an initial feasibility study. SHEP had placed the entire cost of these studies at $1.2 million, with the rest of the money coming mainly from San Diego and other South Bay cities.

Port District Would Do Work

Under the new proposal, the Port District would do the work and SHEP would remain as a private advocacy group for the project.

“We don’t want to muddle up the environmental studies by any taint of our advocacy,” said Jack Dimond, SHEP’s project director, in explaining his group’s change of mind. “It’s more an evolution than a reaction to any specific act. We’re very confident we’d have the $600,000 voted” for approval today.

Dimond made his statements Monday after telling the San Diego City Council that SHEP is withdrawing its request for $50,000 from the city because of the new strategy. He declined to say how much SHEP, which has raised money from cities and private sources, has left in its budget. There is some speculation the organization has little money left. Dimond said that, if the Port District takes over, he would work part time with SHEP.

The second bay entrance, an idea discussed for more than 70 years and the subject of previous environmental studies, is supported by the South Bay cities of Chula Vista, Imperial Beach and National City, who stand to gain most from a channel to the open ocean in the South Bay.

Opposed by Environmentalists

A Silver Strand cut-through is opposed by environmentalists and some residents of Coronado, who fear that a second entrance would cause irreversible erosion of beach sand and would significantly change currents in San Diego Bay. The port commissioner from Coronado, Raymond Burk, has opposed spending the $600,000 because, in part, he believes it has very little chance of winning approval from government agencies.

Nay said he will not make a specific recommendation to Port Commissioners today concerning SHEP’s new request, but noted that any serious effort to build a second entrance would take years to put in practice and would be accomplished only after major environmental studies were done by the federal and state governments, which have veto power over the project.