Here's something you might be interested in.
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
An alternative to Brigantine's Embarcadero plan
Former Fish Grotto owner suggests Waterfront Park extension
Rendering that shows Brigantine project from southwestern perspective
In the midst of the battle for jurisdiction over which government agency can give permission for a restaurant to be constructed at the old Anthony's Grotto site on Harbor Drive, former tenant Craig Ghio weighed in with a surprising message: the site should become part of the waterfront park and not another eatery.
"With so many upcoming restaurant opportunities…a restaurant at this site is no longer necessary," Ghio wrote. "I suggest the Anthony's location be repurposed as a true front porch for the city of San Diego, an over the water extension of the County Administration's waterfront park."
In his letter to the coastal commission, Ghio laid out his opposition to the Brigantine plan as too big, too boxy, and incompatible with the Embarcadero and the maritime museum next door. The Anthony's building may have historic value, he says, because it was designed by Friedrich Leibhart, a student and disciple of famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright.
Ghio emphasizes that Anthony's does not want to return to the bayfront location where it served locals and tourists at the Fishette and the Grotto for 50 years. The letter comes at a moment when the California Coastal Commission ruled that it has jurisdiction over the Brigantine plan, a view disputed by the Port of San Diego — which approved the plan in December 2016.
The dispute centers on whether or not the coastal commission can vet restaurant plans, which the commission intends to do. The port contends that the coastal act did not give the commission authority over restaurants. A letter sent by the Brigantine's lawyers cites a decision in the San Diegans for Open Government lawsuit against the coastal commission — over a proposed restaurant approved by the commission — where Superior Court judge Ronald Prager observed that restaurants aren't included in the Coastal Act.
At its March 8 meeting, the coastal commission decided it does have jurisdiction and scheduled its review of the restaurant plan for May. Commission staff has assembled a list of concerns — many over public access, and some over the amount of well-lit signage for the project the Brigantine calls the Portside Pier.
The Brigantine — whose owners did not return calls for comment — won the competition for the site with a plan for a $13.3 million, two-story, 37,225-square-foot complex with a restaurant, snack bar, coffee shop, and a 3711-square-foot second-floor deck. The plan includes a dock twice the size of the Anthony's dock that the commission's report said will be used exclusively by Brigantine customers. The project would start with the complete demolition of the Anthony's building, including removal and replacement of the pilings sunk into the bay floor.
That deck would be open to the public, which would have to find and traverse a narrow corridor to get there. In its review of the Brigantine plan, commission staff asserts that "it is unlikely that the public will be aware of these amenities as access to them is only available by entering through the restaurant elevator or outdoor dining area."
The port, in a written statement, said they are disappointed by the commission decision and are considering their next steps: "The port of San Diego is committed to public, waterfront access and this project provides significant improvements over the status quo including a perimeter walkway and a second level viewing platform. Contrary to claims by coastal staff, people will be able to access the perimeter walkway around the bottom floor directly from the North Embarcadero Promenade and the second level viewing deck directly from the promenade via a dedicated elevator."
The Brigantine restaurant group is expected to pay $1.1 million a year in rent, according to port documents.
"The port has ample opportunity to recover the lost rent," Ghio wrote, pointing to other high-end projects underway. "The coastal commission has a once in 50 year opportunity to help create an uninterrupted grand esplanade from the B Street Pier to the Coast Guard Station.... What a spot it will be to view fireworks, the Parade of Lights and Fleet Week," Ghio wrote.
Here's something you might be interested in.
An alternative to Brigantine's Embarcadero plan
Former Fish Grotto owner suggests Waterfront Park extension
An alternative to Brigantine's Embarcadero plan
Former Fish Grotto owner suggests Waterfront Park extension
Rendering that shows Brigantine project from southwestern perspective
In the midst of the battle for jurisdiction over which government agency can give permission for a restaurant to be constructed at the old Anthony's Grotto site on Harbor Drive, former tenant Craig Ghio weighed in with a surprising message: the site should become part of the waterfront park and not another eatery.
"With so many upcoming restaurant opportunities…a restaurant at this site is no longer necessary," Ghio wrote. "I suggest the Anthony's location be repurposed as a true front porch for the city of San Diego, an over the water extension of the County Administration's waterfront park."
In his letter to the coastal commission, Ghio laid out his opposition to the Brigantine plan as too big, too boxy, and incompatible with the Embarcadero and the maritime museum next door. The Anthony's building may have historic value, he says, because it was designed by Friedrich Leibhart, a student and disciple of famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright.
Ghio emphasizes that Anthony's does not want to return to the bayfront location where it served locals and tourists at the Fishette and the Grotto for 50 years. The letter comes at a moment when the California Coastal Commission ruled that it has jurisdiction over the Brigantine plan, a view disputed by the Port of San Diego — which approved the plan in December 2016.
The dispute centers on whether or not the coastal commission can vet restaurant plans, which the commission intends to do. The port contends that the coastal act did not give the commission authority over restaurants. A letter sent by the Brigantine's lawyers cites a decision in the San Diegans for Open Government lawsuit against the coastal commission — over a proposed restaurant approved by the commission — where Superior Court judge Ronald Prager observed that restaurants aren't included in the Coastal Act.
At its March 8 meeting, the coastal commission decided it does have jurisdiction and scheduled its review of the restaurant plan for May. Commission staff has assembled a list of concerns — many over public access, and some over the amount of well-lit signage for the project the Brigantine calls the Portside Pier.
The Brigantine — whose owners did not return calls for comment — won the competition for the site with a plan for a $13.3 million, two-story, 37,225-square-foot complex with a restaurant, snack bar, coffee shop, and a 3711-square-foot second-floor deck. The plan includes a dock twice the size of the Anthony's dock that the commission's report said will be used exclusively by Brigantine customers. The project would start with the complete demolition of the Anthony's building, including removal and replacement of the pilings sunk into the bay floor.
That deck would be open to the public, which would have to find and traverse a narrow corridor to get there. In its review of the Brigantine plan, commission staff asserts that "it is unlikely that the public will be aware of these amenities as access to them is only available by entering through the restaurant elevator or outdoor dining area."
The port, in a written statement, said they are disappointed by the commission decision and are considering their next steps: "The port of San Diego is committed to public, waterfront access and this project provides significant improvements over the status quo including a perimeter walkway and a second level viewing platform. Contrary to claims by coastal staff, people will be able to access the perimeter walkway around the bottom floor directly from the North Embarcadero Promenade and the second level viewing deck directly from the promenade via a dedicated elevator."
The Brigantine restaurant group is expected to pay $1.1 million a year in rent, according to port documents.
"The port has ample opportunity to recover the lost rent," Ghio wrote, pointing to other high-end projects underway. "The coastal commission has a once in 50 year opportunity to help create an uninterrupted grand esplanade from the B Street Pier to the Coast Guard Station.... What a spot it will be to view fireworks, the Parade of Lights and Fleet Week," Ghio wrote.
Comments