County Seeks to Add 1,100 Acres of Parkland Near Border

County officials unveiled designs Thursday for a regional park in the Tijuana River Valley that, together with the existing Border Field State Park, would form a massive public area.

Officials say the park would contain about 1,100 acres and possibly more. The combined public parkland in the area would stretch from San Ysidro to the coast along Imperial Beach. Portions of the park would serve as environmental preserves.

“This valley will finally be recognized as the important natural resource that it is,” county Supervisor Brian Bilbray said.

The county has already identified likely parcels in the valley’s flood plain and is negotiating to buy the land, according to Bob Copper, director of the county’s Parks and Recreation Department. Most of the land for the park should be purchased by the end of the year, Copper said. Public access to land that has been closed will be restored as soon as key parcels are bought.

The county has $10 million with which to bargain. Proposition 70, the state parks bonds issue approved by California voters last June, included the funds for the Tijuana River Valley and San Dieguito Valley regional parks. Purchasing sites for the San Dieguito project--despite controversy over its location--should also be completed by the end of the year, Copper said.

The county is seeking additional grants for both projects. The land in the Tijuana River Valley is cheaper because it is less developable, Copper said. The land the county purchases will likely be leased back to the original tenants for private use if it is deemed compatible with the park’s development. The total cost of the Tijuana River Valley project is expected to be between $5 million and $20 million, Copper said.

The park is meant to preserve the valley’s rural atmosphere and to protect vegetation along the Tijuana River. Endangered species, including the light-footed clapper rail, the California least tern and the California brown pelican, live nearby.

The adjacent Border Field park contains 655 acres and is located in the Tijuana River National Estuarine Sanctuary, a 2,300-acre nature preserve, most of which is owned and operated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the state Department of Parks and Recreation. With the exception of the Border Field Park, the area does not have much public recreation space.

Allen Jones, executive assistant to City Councilman Bob Filner, whose district includes

much of the area the county is attempting to purchase, said the region “is more park poor than any other part of the city.”

Bilbray said efforts at preserving the Tijuana River Valley have received less attention than the more “glamorous” San Dieguito Regional Park and the more established Penasquitos and Mission Trails regional parks.

“The lower-income, high-density, working-class neighborhoods near this (regional) park need open space and recreational opportunities as much if not more than the wealthier areas to the north,” Bilbray said.

Among possible recreational uses at the Tijuana River Valley park would be campgrounds, hiking trails, bicycle paths and possibly a golf course.

The park land will be roughly bordered by Monument Road on the south, 19th Street on the west and Sunset Avenue, Servando Avenue and Calle Primera on the north. The east end of the park will probably stop just short of Sycamore Road and the San Ysidro Sports Field.