Submitted by Dan Hunting
Cays Park is a beautiful, green, safe, open public space, site of many healthy activities for many citizens for over 50 years. The Cays Park Master Plan makeover is unsound environmentally, unpopular, and expensive (probably $40 million cost). We are a growing grassroots movement to stop this disaster. We advocate for caysparkleaveitasitis.org and goodgovernancecoronado.com.
In 1903 President Teddy Roosevelt visited the Grand Canyon and said “leave it as it is” to the dismay of the local politicians, promoters, contractors and developers. Cays Park is part of a coastal dunes system which has been altered, but further altering with lighting, benches, tables, paved walkways, shade structures, hills, shrubs, the cutting down of 15 healthy trees, and an expensive visually disruptive deck would be an end to the beautiful, green, open, safe, public space we know as Cays Park.
Indeed, we are for the improvements and enlarging of the restrooms, the children’s playground, indicated enhancements to the tennis and pickleball venues, all of which can be started on today and probably should have been done years ago. We oppose the road demolition areas and road widening and the other above mentioned unneeded infrastructure of the Master Plan. The map and footprint of the park does not need a major expensive change.
The Cays Park Master Plan includes the fencing in of the dog run and we contend that the politicians mandated that this would be the centerpiece of the Plan, paying over $400,000 to the park designer to get this primary result. Therefore the politicians can blame the park designer for this controversial result. Also, when all else fails blame the dog owners and dogs for the total free run of the whole park, and furthermore we have never seen dog owners cited for their dogs running all over the park. The politicians are to be blamed for not building it to the standard, then and now, fenced in, and for decades they have not done the simple and right solution which is a $50K fence at the most. However, the dogs and dog owners have squatters rights and in legal terminology is adverse possession. We contend the politicians are afraid to face the controversy and do the right action. The citizens don’t need a $400K park designer to mandate. Our feedback at caysparkleaveitasitis.org strongly supports the fencing of the dog park, i.e., it is the will of the people.
As a victim of a dog mauling as a child, I am not without prejudice on this controversial issue. As a physician and student of microbiology, I cannot imagine the probable excessive coliform bacterial contamination of the turf throughout the park. I know lots of people who will not walk on that turf for that reason. County Public Health is investigating soiling of our beaches but they cannot provide a solution (a foreign country solution is needed); however, the pollution of the Cays Park turf has a solution. The fencing in of the dog run is a solution without County Public Health involvement. About half of the 20 beautiful Coronado Parks have no dogs allowed policies and signage.
We used to take the kids to swim at the La Jolla Cove and Children’s Pool but now the seals have taken over those beaches due to cowardice of the San Diego politicians. Kids and adults today don’t get to swim at those beautiful beaches. I sure hate seeing the takeover of the whole Cays Park by dogs. Caution, the takeover is progressing and progressing! Why can’t the politicians, today, do the easy and simple and right solution to this controversial problem?
The children’s playground at Cays Park has one of two play structures “fenced off” for over a month. This permeable and useless “fence” is just yellow hazard/caution tape and traffic sawhorses barriers. A chain link fence or equivalent would be more appropriate. This play structure has severe rusting and it is an obvious unsafe structure and liability risk. The present barrier is porous and any kid can climb up and get hurt on that damaged play structure. If this rusted and broken play structure is not going to fixed, why not, please, just haul it away? Don’t you agree, safety first? FYI, the other play structure is progressing to the same fate, but perhaps with a lot of work it can be restored.
The above facts document Cays Park maintenance neglect. The proximity to the ocean causes metal to rust, but rust can be prevented by proper, persistent, and repeated painting.
The good news is that inspection of the playgrounds at Spreckels, Sunset, Mathewson, and Glorietta Bay Parks showed well maintained play structures.
And on a positive note, on July 4th Cays Park was full of many families and picnic gatherings without the “benefit” of permanent benches, tables, shade structures, lighting, shrubs, fences, hills, and other clutter, unnatural, environmentally unsound and expensive parts of the Cays Park Master Plan. FYI, when we do picnics these days, we bring our own stuff, i.e., pop up tents, chairs, tables, grills, frisbees, smashball, volleyball nets, croquet, bocci ball, etc.
We conclude that the City and the Parks and Recreation Department are not able to maintain the expensive and not needed and not indicated or requested infrastructure planned for the proposed new park disaster. Other City and Park and Recreation Department failures include the community pool, flooding at the community center, flooding at the Spreckels Center, etc. which were all probably preventable.
Stop the Cays Park Master Plan disaster. Visit us at goodgovernancecoronado.com and caysparkleaveitasitis.org.
Respectfully,
Dan Hunting, MD
