Plans to proceed with the first phase of work on a major redevelopment project on the northern end of the Embarcadero between Seaport Village and Lindbergh Field have been stalled once again. At its December meeting, the San Diego Unified Port District’s Board of Port Commissioners postponed a vote on whether or not to grant an appealable coastal development permit (CDP) that would jumpstart the $230 million North Embarcadero Visionary Plan, which has been in discussions for the last 12 years. “Unfortunately, it appears that the opportunity for us to collaborate is over,” said Cory Briggs, attorney for the Navy Broadway Complex Coalition, which opposes development of the waterfront that they say excludes public use. “The port made it clear that they are not interested in doing what’s necessary to go forward as we agreed.” According to Briggs, a week before the hearing, additional language was inserted concerning Broadway Pier that had not appeared during negotiations prior to the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the Port District, San Diego Lane Field Developers, LLC, and the Navy Broadway Complex Coalition. Commissioner Lee Burdick of the San Diego Unified Port District said she voted for the postponement because the Navy Broadway Complex Coalition had raised enough questions about ambiguities that resulted from the very recent revisions to the draft coastal development permit. Burdick said she believes because everything was done under high pressure to be ready for the December board meeting, that there were inconsistencies between some of the revisions and some of the pre-existing language in the main CDP. “We’re taking this month to clean it up and scrub the document of those kinds of ambiguities,” Burdick said. “I think it will make the Navy Broadway Complex Coalition folks very happy and I think it will make the Coastal Commission staff very happy as well.” More information on the North Embarcadero Visionary Plan can be found at www.portofsandiego.org.
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