2 days Ago
Nearly two years after the Paradise Point resort was fined $1 million for years of state Coastal Act violations, the Mission Bay property was praised this week for the progress it’s made in ongoing efforts to widely expand public access to the water and shoreline. Key among the steps taken by Paradise Point in the past year were installing some 100 signs reinforcing the message that the 44-acre resort and access to the bay and beach are all open to the public. In addition, the resort has removed various barriers to ensure there are uninterrupted pathways along the coastline, it’s added EV charging stations, and it is planning to rebuild a marina to make it ADA-friendly, which will include installing a lift so that those with mobility issues can go fishing.
New sign alerts visitors that the beach area just outside the resort is open to the public. (California Coastal Commission)One of the more ambitious tasks Paradise Point will be taking on is a total revamp of the resort’s artificial lagoon system. It will be transformed into a closed system that will no longer use bay water to fill the individual lagoons, and in so doing, the lagoon water, some of which becomes stagnant contaminated, will no longer be discharged into Mission Bay.
“There’s still work to do, including installation of a public restroom and replacement of the marina with new ADA equipment,” Rob Moddelmog, headquarters enforcement counsel for the California Coastal Commission, told commissioners this week. “However, as you saw today, (Paradise Point) is well on their way towards carrying out the greatest improvement in public access in the 60-year history of these leased public trust tidelands, and we’re very appreciative of their work thus far.” The longstanding Coastal Act violations that fueled the millions of dollars in mandated improvements date back years, long before the resort ownership, Pebblebrook Hotel Trust, purchased the resort in 2018.
It took years and repeated warnings from the commission to reach a point where those violations could be resolved. There was even a point two years ago when the Coastal Commission’s enforcement division was close to seeking a cease and desist order, but a landmark settlement ultimately was approved in September of 2023. Mitch Silverstein, senior San Diego policy coordinator at the Surfrider Foundation, heaped praise on both the commission enforcement staff and Paradise Point ownership for addressing the longstanding violations.
“Wow, that is such a huge victory for public beach access for all San Diegans and visitors,” he said. “On behalf of Surfrider Foundation, and especially our San Diego County chapter’s 4,000-plus members, I’d just like to thank the commission Enforcement Division for addressing this longstanding injustice to equitable beach access in Mission Bay. With all the attacks on the commission lately from those who, frankly, don’t understand how you protect our coast and our access to it, this success story really underscores the critical safeguards that you provide to the beach going public.
” Silverstein also extended his thanks to Pebblebrook for its “willingness to make things right.” The Maryland-based REIT had been preparing a couple of years ago to launch a redevelopment of the resort in concert with transitioning it to a Margaritaville Resort but that got sidelined by the Coastal Act violations. The project application had been scheduled to go before the commission twice in 2023, but Pebblebrook pulled its application from the agenda in the face of strong opposition from organized labor and local elected leaders.
That project has since been revived, and an application for what was originally estimated to cost $35 million was submitted last year to the Coastal Commission staff, but it’s not yet ready to be scheduled for a public hearing, the commission staff said. Given the current uncertainty surrounding the economy and the potential impact of tariffs on construction costs, it’s unclear when Pebblebrook could move forward with the long-planned resort upgrades, said Ray Martz, chief financial officer of Pebblebrook. Today, the cost of the project would be considerably more than the earlier $35 million estimate, he said.
“We can’t worry about the start of anything until we get approved,” Martz said. “Then we decide how to proceed with the renovations. If we get approval, we’ll have to get updated scope and cost estimates but the problem right now is with the tariffs, so the project is on hold until the tariff situation is resolved.
” The cost of implementing the settlement agreement also is expected to be higher than the original estimate of $3.1 million, not including the fine, Martz said. Other components of the agreement call for a marine debris reduction plan and a $500,000 outreach program to bring lower-income students and their families to the resort for free overnight stays.
“We’re believers in the community and what we’re doing for education,” Martz said. “The cost has been substantial, and our team has spent hundreds of hours on this, but we’ve been working with the Coastal Commission in a collaborative process. Hopefully, we’re near the end.
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