National City, Bent on Tourist Dollar, Balks at Dock Plan : Development: Site that Port District has ticketed for unloading of imported cars is coveted by the city for hotels.

Looking at the Mile of Cars, with endless rows of new automobiles, it seems that National City officials have never seen a car they did not like.

Why, then, is the City Council fuming over a decision by the Port District to allow thousands of foreign cars to be unloaded at the National City 24th Street Pier?

“For one thing, the city isn’t getting one penny from the tariffs that the port will generate,” said National City Councilman Fred Pruitt. “But our biggest complaint is that the port is taking away property that would give us access to the bay. They’re dumping the projects that San Diego doesn’t want on our doorstep.”

It is no secret that San Diego wants to get rid of the cargo-handling facilities on its waterfront so it can proceed with the conversion of its shoreline to the tourist industry and businesses, Pruitt added.

“After years of redeveloping our downtown and commercial areas, we’re ready to turn our attention to our waterfront,” he said. “But now, the port has decided to allow a facility that will handle thousands of imported cars for the next 10 years on property where we envisioned putting four hotels and building our tourist industry.”

Pruitt’s fear that the property may be unavailable for 10 years might prove too optimistic. Delton (Rip) Reopelle, National City’s representative to the Port District, said the agreement signed by the port with the company that will process the imported cars includes a five-year option that could stretch the contract to 15 years. The National City Council had asked the Port to limit the contract to five years.

But National City also is working--with some success--on turning the objectionable move into an opportunity. As a result of the city’s objections to the car facility, The Board of Port Commissioners agreed earlier this month to consider a proposal by the City Council to develop a larger site south of the 24th Street Pier that lies roughly between 32nd Street and the mouth of the Sweetwater River. Mayor George Waters has been aggressive in pushing plans for a “Seaport Village-type” tourist attraction with shops and restaurants overlooking the water, anchored by a marina, for that particular area.

Port District spokesman Dan Wilkins said the marina is “under active implementation” and in the beginning phase of development. He said the project is undergoing an environmental study.

The controversy surfaced last month, when the port reached an agreement with the Pasha Group that will allow the Bay Area-based company to process a minimum of 50,000 imported cars a year at the 24th Street Pier. Port officials agreed to make 35 acres available to the company, but the contract includes a provision for possible expansion. In return, the port will receive a $15 tariff per vehicle and 50 cents per day, per car, for storage.

Although the agreement calls for a minimum of 50,000 vehicles to go through annually, Port District officials said they expect about 70,000 cars to be unloaded at National City each year. The terminal should generate $1 million to $1.4 million in revenue a year, they said.

Pasha also operates facilities in Long Beach and Richmond, Calif., and in Philadelphia. Senior Vice President Jim Hull said the company handles 180,000 imports a year in Long Beach, 150,000 in Richmond and 20,000 in Philadelphia. It pays a tariff of $24 per car in Long Beach, $18 in Richmond and $8 in Philadelphia, said Hull.

Cars processed in San Diego will be shipped by train to the East Coast and points in between, in addition to Southern California, Hull said. In order to ship cars by railroad, Santa Fe Railroad will have to lay a spur to connect the pier to the main track line, he added.

Although the agreement was signed, Hull and Reopelle said an environmental obstacle still has to be overcome. Despite a provision that requires Pasha to begin operating by next January, neither side knows when the first cars will be unloaded, because the Port has been ordered to clean the site of pollution caused by copper concentrate.

“The 10-year underlined agreement cannot be exercised until the port takes care of some environmental concerns,” Hull said. “Assuming that the environmental concerns are addressed, we’re in.”

Reopelle said that copper contamination around the pier has “presented some concern.” Until a few years ago, an Arizona company used the 24th Street Pier to ship copper sulfate to Asia. The shipments were stopped when the Regional Water Quality Control Board found that the copper had polluted the bay and nearby area, and ordered a cleanup.

“There appears to be some concern about the copper residue on the ground, as well as on the buildings and at the bottom of the bay. The degree of the action that the Port has to take hasn’t been spelled out. We have consultants working on the issue,” said Reopelle.

The Port District has jurisdiction over tidelands in the cities of San Diego, National City, Chula Vista, Coronado and Imperial Beach. The seven port commissioners--three from San Diego and one from each of the other four cities--have the final say on all waterfront projects in the Port District’s jurisdiction. The Pasha agreement was approved unanimously, with Reopelle absent.

Reopelle and Pasha officials acknowledged that National City opposes the company’s plans to use the 24th Street Pier.

“We knew that they have an interest in recreational development in the area,” Hull said. “We were obviously aware of the peripheral issues, but we cut the deal with the port. We decided to let the port handle whatever peripheral issues are out there.”

In the past, Pasha’s sincerity in opening a local car import terminal was questioned by port officials. Many observers believed that Pasha used the threat of moving to San Diego to gain leverage and negotiate a better deal with the Port of Long Beach.

However, Hull said, America’s appetite for imported cars has led to crowding at its Long Beach facility, forcing Pasha to expand.

Reopelle said the port thinks Pasha wants to do business here.

“We think they’re sincere this time,” said Reopelle.

According to Hull, once the unloading operation is in place, the company will hire about 200 employees, and ships are expected to dock at the pier about two or three times a week. About 50 longshoremen are also expected to be hired to drive the cars off the ships.

Meanwhile, a compromise is being worked out between National City officials and the Port District that could make it possible for National City to go ahead with a scaled-down version of its waterfront redevelopment plans. Port approval for National City’s proposal may come next month, when port commissioners are expected to approve a City Council request to rezone about 112 bayfront acres from cargo to tourist and commercial.

“In the past, tourist-oriented developments have been in San Diego. It’s time we start looking at the South Bay,” Reopelle said. “When National City developed its master plan, its bayfront was zoned cargo-marine acreage. It’s time to change that and give National City access to the bay. I think that will provide them with an opportunity to increase tourism in the area.”

The bay site slated for redevelopment by National City lies south of the 24th Street Pier. However, Pruitt and the National City Council still have their eyes on the 35 acres that the port has leased to Pasha.

“We want to put those four hotels on that site, which should rightfully be ours. The port has taken the cream of the pie away from us. If you can imagine the hotels that could be built there, with the tremendous view of the bay and easy access to Interstate 5 and Harbor Drive, it’s unbelievable,” said Pruitt.

Indeed, the site is less than 10 minutes from the San Diego Convention Center and closer to Coronado.

“We’re better situated than Mission Valley. Why doesn’t the port see this potential?” said Pruitt, who quickly answered his own question.

“It’s because San Diego doesn’t want them to see this potential. They know that putting four hotels on that site will drain Mission Valley’s hotels. Who would ever see the day when we in National City would become a threat to San Diego’s tourist industry?”

Spokesman Wilkins declined to comment on Pruitt’s charges, saying instead that “we’ve negotiated with Pasha for two years.” He added that National City officials were aware of the negotiations.