The Port of San Diego is hosting a virtual workshop at 6 p.m. March 23 to gather final public input on the forthcoming 2.5-acre expansion of Pepper park.
Three different conceptual plans will be presented at the meeting, all based on previous public input, for participants to review before providing current feedback. Each site plan will include some new park elements such as picnic areas, a splash pad and new playground equipment.
Previously, outdoor plaza spaces for mobile structures like food trucks and shipping containers repurposed as exhibition space were raised for consideration, along with the possibility of relocating Granger Music Hall and incorporating it into a larger outdoor performance space. Other proposed ideas include permanent outdoor exercise equipment and a defined cyclist area with installed bike pumps.
Pepper Park and the area in and around Pier 32 Marina fall within the 60-acre National City Marina District. That district includes the maritime cargo terminal, Pier 32 Marina, and public space including Pepper park and the accompanying boat launch, playground and picnic areas, and the aquatic center.
The entire district is included in the National City Marina District Balanced Land Use Plan which covers the park expansion, public access corridors including an east-west and north-south pathway with pedestrian and bike access, and improvements related to commercial recreation and maritime uses.
The area redesign, with potential to address ongoing environmental justice goals, is being laid out while the city of National City itself is in the midst of gathering public input for improvements to El Toyon park, Las Palmas park and Kimball park funded from a one-time $3 million infusion of American Rescue Plan Act funding.
National City Port Commissioner Sandy Naranjo said the park expansion will give children more room to play and draw residents and visitors to patronize local businesses while enjoying the public space.
“The project will open up the area and provide environmental and aesthetic benefits to a part of San Diego that has at times been neglected as a result of social inequalities, racial divisions and economic inequities, manifested in large part by the community being excluded from the decision-making process,” Naranjo said during the last public workshop on the park, held in May 2021.
The public workshops, she said, provide a chance to correct “egregious accidents and sometimes deliberate policies” and have been designed to include small stakeholder working sessions, public meetings and individual meetings with interested parties.
Landscape architecture firm KTUA is managing design and coordinating with the Port for outreach.
According to Port of San Diego media representative Anja Riedel, Port leaders anticipate holding additional in-person and public outreach events before finalizing the park design. Visit portofsandiego.org/projects/national-city-bayfront to read the EIR, review comments from stakeholders, or register for the upcoming workshop to formulate ideas for the park expansion.
For more information mail NCBayfront@portofsandiego.org or contact Port Program Manager Anna Buzaitis at abuzaiti@portofsandiego.org or (619) 686-7263.
This story was modified to indicate port representatives may hold future public meetings, and to add another point of contact. Also, the headline was changed to reflect the nature of the meeting set for March 23.
