City Spars With Bay Ho Residents Over Future Plans for Vacant Lot

Residents of the Bay Ho neighborhood consider the location under dispute to be a community gateway.

A fight is brewing between the city and residents of the Bay Ho neighborhood in San Diego, over the future building plans of a vacant lot.

SANDAG would like to use Eminent Domain, a process in which the government can legally seize private property for public use, to take the vacant lot in the 2500 block of Clairemont Drive. City officials say they would like to set it up as a "Park and Ride" staging area and parking lot for a future trolley station.

However, local residents are less than thrilled with the prospect of adding another city parking lot to their neighborhood. Residents have voiced their preference for a more scenic addition to beautify the community.

One local resident, John Beard, lives within a few blocks of the vacant lot in dispute. He said he isn't happy with the idea of SANDAG using Eminent Domain to take the property for a "Park and Ride."

A spokesperson for a group opposing Eminent Domain, Bay Park Boardwalk/Raise The Balloon, James LaMattery, says he wants community members to gather together on Oct. 1 at 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. to speak with the developer who is working on the site.

"So we're having an event to introduce Jeffrey Essakow, President of Protea properties, to our residents, and it’ll be a time when residents can fire away and let this development group know what they want or do not want," said LaMattery.

Bay Park Boardwalk/Raise The Balloon, the community group opposing Eminent Domain, would prefer to use the vacant lot as a community 'gateway' to Bay Park and Bay Ho neighborhoods, as well as a mixed-use lot for grocery stores, offices or condos.

"The best thing that is going on right now is that this developer is including the community in the community planning process," said LaMattery.

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