A controversial proposal to transform much of northeast Mission Bay into marshland, camping space and other uses will be presented to the San Diego Planning Commission Thursday.
The hearing will launch the city’s final efforts at deciding what becomes of the area, which has been the subject of fierce debate for more than seven years.
After the Planning Commission, the proposal is expected to be considered by the City Council next year and then the California Coastal Commission.
An environmental analysis of the proposal was released last month at sandiego/gov/ceqa/final. Comments on that analysis must be submitted by Thursday.
Redevelopment of the area was sparked by the long-awaited closure of De Anza Cove mobile home park, which freed up 75 acres of land and created the potential to re-envision the entire northeast corner of Mission Bay.
The process has pitted environmentalists and campers against golfers, tennis players and advocates for youth sports and other recreational activities.
That’s because much of the area is now home to longtime local institutions like the Mission Bay Golf Course, Pacific Beach Tennis Club, Bob McEvoy Youth Fields and Mission Bay Boat & Ski Club.
Those groups are competing with nearby Campland on the Bay, which wants as many acres as possible devoted to camping, and a group of environmental advocates known as Rewild, which wants to max out climate-friendly wetlands.
As proposals for the area have continued to evolve and be revised, the city has increased the amount of acreage that would become marshland.
That’s partly because concerns about climate change have grown. Marshland can sequester carbon and serves as a sponge that can better absorb sea-level rise.
But backlash last spring from recreation supporters and other groups prompted city officials to slightly reduce marshland in a compromise proposal released in June.
That proposal, which is what will be presented to the Planning Commission Thursday, boosts recreation space by 10 percent — just enough to potentially allow all existing recreation activities to survive.
But some of those activities would likely have to relocate within northeastern Mission Bay.
The proposal is available and public comments can be submitted at sandiego.gov/planning/work/park-planning/de-anza.
The Planning Commission meeting is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. at City Hall, 202 C St.
