Development Plan OKd for Mission Beach Park

After nearly two hours of testimony from developers and Mission Beach residents, the city’s Park and Recreation Board on Thursday approved a $14.3-million redevelopment plan for Mission Beach Park.

Residents of the crowded beach community testified that the plan would compound traffic problems and result in the loss of a park that holds fond memories for many.

Most board members and developers at the meeting recognized those concerns but said the redevelopment plan for the site at Mission Boulevard and West Mission Bay Drive--now mostly open space-- would blend in well with the area.

The project, expected to open by 1988, has been in the works for at least five years, said Paul Thoryk, a local architect involved in its design since the beginning. A report by Belmont Park Associates, the developer that proposed the plan, shows that the firm will pay for the entire project and that complete ownership will revert to the city upon termination of the company’s 50-year lease.

Thoryk stressed that both the developers and planners have tried to be sensitive to what the community wants--and doesn’t want.

“We’re not trying to build a shopping center . . . We feel that the architecture will be in keeping with the feeling that Belmont Park once had,” he said.

The project will consist of eight buildings covering about 70,000 square feet, according to a recent board report. The existing swimming pool (known as the Plunge) will be preserved, but the structure surrounding the pool will be replaced with five smaller buildings containing restaurants, new lockers, and shower and exercise rooms. The roller rink will be demolished and replaced by three new recreational buildings. A pedestrian overpass over Mission Boulevard from Bonita Cove will provide access to the site and the adjacent beach.

“What we’re trying to create is the festive environment that Belmont Park once had,” Thoryk said.

Park and Recreation Board member Robert Arnhym said there was no reason why the project shouldn’t be approved. Another board member, D. Steven Alexander, expressed similar feelings, noting that he once lived across the street from the Belmont Park roller coaster “when it was still running late at night.”

“I think this (the project) is long overdue,” he said.

Many Mission Beach residents are strongly opposed the project.

“Who but a developer would say that 74,000 square feet of commercial space wouldn’t add to congestion to the already heavy traffic we now experience?” asked Harold Becker.

Brian Wagner, a spokesman for the Save Mission Beach Park community group, said: “We’re talking about 70,000 square feet out of 100,000 square feet (on the property). Does that sound like a recreational development? It’s not . . . I understand there’s a lot of political pressure. I understand there’s a lot of financial pressure, but you people on the board have a chance to save a park. A six-acre oceanfront park.”