BY: VOICE & VIEWPOINT NEWSWIRE
Approximately $15.9 million in capital-improvement funding and an additional $363,000 in community-based Developer Impact Fee (DIF) funds will go to 19 park projects in the City of San Diego as part of Mayor Todd Gloria’s Parks for All of Us initiative.
Parks for All of Us provides for a more equitable funding process that helps ensure everyone has access to safe, clean, and thriving park spaces. It is the first initiative to update the City’s Park Plan in over 65 years, which includes a “big change in how the City uses Developer Impact Fees (DIF). Previously, DIF funds could be spent only in the communities where the fees were collected. Ultimately this is aimed to make the funding system more flexible and equitable so parks can be built and improved upon in neighborhoods that need them the most.
“All San Diegans deserve easy access to high-quality parks,” said Mayor Todd Gloria, in a press release earlier this month.
Many of the neighborhood park projects are located in a park-deficient community and in communities of Climate Equity Concern. Projects include:
- Beyer Community Park in San Ysidro
- Carmel Mountain Ranch Pool Facility ADA in Carmel Mountain Ranch
- Chollas Creek Oak Park Branch Trail in Oak Park
- Chollas Triangle Neighborhood Park in City Heights
- Clay Neighborhood Park improvements in Rolando
- Ellen Browning Scripps Park Expanded Walkway in La Jolla
- Golf Course Drive improvements in Balboa Park/Golden Hill
- Hard court improvements across four communities in Council Districts 4 and 8, such as Emerald Hills, Encanto, Southcrest, Skyline and Otay Mesa
- Howard Lane Park in San Ysidro
- John Baca Park in Linda Vista
- Land acquisition for parks across six communities in Council Districts 4, 7, 8 and 9
- Marcy Neighborhood Park improvements in University City
- Memorial Community Park field and security lighting in Logan Heights
- Montezuma Neighborhood Park in College Area
- North Chollas Community Park improvements in Oak Park
- Rancho Bernardo Dog Park in Rancho Bernardo
- Robb Field Park GDP Amendment in Mission Bay / Ocean Beach
- Southcrest Community Park Lighting in Southcrest
- Sunshine Berardini Park GDP in City Heights
The projects approved for funding as part of today’s action are in various phases of the design, engineering, bid, or planning processes.
Additionally, as part of the Fiscal Year 2024 budget process, Council members included 46 park projects (existing and new projects) in their Council priority memos. The Parks and Recreation Department currently has 187 existing capital improvement projects in its inventory with a funding need of over $500 million. There are numerous other projects that will be candidates for Citywide Park DIF funding once they reach a project phase that requires additional funding.
