Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Coastal Commission staff says "No" on convention center expansion

The commission considers the matter Oct. 10

In a 24-page report, the staff of the California Coastal Commission recommended a "No" vote on the planned $520 million convention center expansion. The commission will take up the matter at a meeting Oct. 10.

" The [proposal] will result in significant impacts to views, visual quality and coastal recreation through the substantial loss of already limited waterfront area and open space," says the staff. "Construction of a building of this size and width so close to the waterfront would be unprecedented in San Diego County because setting back buildings a reasonable distance from the shoreline ensures that the public will have both visual and physical access to the waterfront."

The expansion would eliminate the 1.6 acre landscaped open space and public area adjacent to Harbor Drive, says the staff. The convention center expansion, along with an expansion of the Hilton Hotel, "will significantly reduce the view corridor between the two existing structures," says the staff.

The San Diego Chargers rejoiced at the news. The team wants a combined football stadium/convention center expansion that realistically would be more than 70 percent financed by taxpayers. However, it would be several blocks from the current center, and research and experience indicate that convention attendees want contiguous space. Also, combined football stadia/convention centers have not worked well in other cities such as Indianapolis and Atlanta.

The study does not address the poignant matter: convention centers are vastly overbuilt in the U.S. Convention centers, including San Diego's, are reducing prices by 50 percent and more because there is such a glut of convention center space. Adding on to the convention center -- whether at the current site or in combination with a football stadium -- would be the height of economic folly, according to Heywood Sanders, the professor who is the national expert on convention centers, and is now bringing up to date his seminal 2005 report for the Brookings Institution. It showed how overbuilt convention centers were then. Now the situation is far worse around the nation.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all

Previous article

Celebrate Holi, Borrego Springs Music Festival

Events March 23-March 27, 2024
Next Article

Pacific Beach – car thief's paradise

Take photos of your automobile and license plate

In a 24-page report, the staff of the California Coastal Commission recommended a "No" vote on the planned $520 million convention center expansion. The commission will take up the matter at a meeting Oct. 10.

" The [proposal] will result in significant impacts to views, visual quality and coastal recreation through the substantial loss of already limited waterfront area and open space," says the staff. "Construction of a building of this size and width so close to the waterfront would be unprecedented in San Diego County because setting back buildings a reasonable distance from the shoreline ensures that the public will have both visual and physical access to the waterfront."

The expansion would eliminate the 1.6 acre landscaped open space and public area adjacent to Harbor Drive, says the staff. The convention center expansion, along with an expansion of the Hilton Hotel, "will significantly reduce the view corridor between the two existing structures," says the staff.

The San Diego Chargers rejoiced at the news. The team wants a combined football stadium/convention center expansion that realistically would be more than 70 percent financed by taxpayers. However, it would be several blocks from the current center, and research and experience indicate that convention attendees want contiguous space. Also, combined football stadia/convention centers have not worked well in other cities such as Indianapolis and Atlanta.

The study does not address the poignant matter: convention centers are vastly overbuilt in the U.S. Convention centers, including San Diego's, are reducing prices by 50 percent and more because there is such a glut of convention center space. Adding on to the convention center -- whether at the current site or in combination with a football stadium -- would be the height of economic folly, according to Heywood Sanders, the professor who is the national expert on convention centers, and is now bringing up to date his seminal 2005 report for the Brookings Institution. It showed how overbuilt convention centers were then. Now the situation is far worse around the nation.

Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.