Campland on the Bay celebrated its 50th Anniversary Saturday, which came after the San Diego City Council approved its five-year lease extension back in June. That lease extension included Campland’s proposal to clean-up an abandoned mobile home park at De Anza Cove.
“It is going to take a ton of work,” Campland’s Vice President of Operations Jacob Gelfand said.
“Part of the lease we’ve committed to is to make best efforts to get the site cleaned-up and get all the improvements done in a 24-month time frame once the permits are in place, so we will be working as hard and as fast as possible to make those improvements happen,” Gelfand added.
There are currently 170 rundown mobile homes on 70 acres of waterfront property at De Anza Cove, some were reportedly full of asbestos.
Campland on the Bay, which operates just west of De Anza Cove, agreed to fund $8 million for a large-scale cleanup of the area including upgrades to security, gas and electric systems. The city agreed to match Campland’s contribution with $8 million in rent-credits.
During the city council’s meetings over the summer, some environmental groups expressed their opposition to the private development of the land. Some said they wanted to see the De Anza Cove property turn into a nature preserve or park.
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“Let’s make a park for the next hundred years instead of securing the land use that’s the way it’s been for the last hundred years,” said Andrew Meyer with the San Diego Audubon Society in a June interview.
Gelfand said it was still working with the California Coastal Commission to get permits in place to renovate De Anza Cove.
