After years of planning, the Coronado Yacht Club is making progress in a redevelopment project that will include a new main clubhouse, an expanded youth sailing school, and a public promenade and bayside viewing platform.
The proposed, $18.5-million project was approved to move into environmental review at the March 11 meeting of the San Diego Board of Port Commissioners.
The current clubhouse was never meant to be permanent: It is a former World War II-era barracks for the Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service (WAVES) that was converted into a clubhouse in 1947.
The proposal will modernize the facilities, expand its youth sailing education capacity, and plan for future sea level rise.
The project is not yet final, but is moving forward. It will now need to be reviewed by the California Coastal Commission, and the Yacht Club will need to negotiate a new lease with the port. Its current lease expires in December 2028.
In past years, attempts to revitalize the club’s facilities have been stalled by the Coastal Commission, which is tasked with protecting the state’s coastlines and public access to them. For example, the commission challenged a 2011 plan to wrap a public walkway around yacht club buildings, rather than route it along the waterfront.
The current proposal, however, includes a waterside walkway that culminates in a viewing platform.
“We’re really proud of this public access feature,” said Ken Wilson, commodore of the Coronado Yacht Club, at the Board of Port Commissioners meeting. “It’s a creative design element that provides a welcoming public promenade and a viewing space to relax, take in the coastal view, and safely observe the busy waterside activities. And when I say busy waterside activities, I’m really not kidding.”
Wilson said that regattas at the yacht club will launch directly in front of the viewing platform, giving the public a chance to observe. The Coronado Yacht Club has secured three upcoming, Olympic-class regattas that will bring top sailors to the city.
Commissioner Frank Urtasun, Coronado’s representative on the board, asked staff whether the Coastal Commission seemed amenable to the proposal.
“We have presented this concept to Coastal (Commission) staff as a part of our monthly coordination meetings,” said Lesley Nishihira, the port’s assistant vice president. “They’ve reacted very favorably. They acknowledge the positive movement to address the concerns that they’ve consistently raised – not just the public access, but the building setback and also addressing sea level rise concerns.”
Coronado Mayor John Duncan spoke in favor of the proposal, first highlighting the various community nonprofits that utilize event space at the Coronado Yacht Club and will benefit from the improvements.
“Most yacht clubs would say they don’t want public access right between their yacht club and their boats,” Duncan said. “I think the Yacht Club has taken a really open and public-supporting position with this proposal.”
The proposed redevelopment would allow the club to expand its youth sailing program, which is one of the largest in the country and accepts children as young as five years old.
“Junior sailing is our pride and joy,” said Charlotte Rudowicz, the club’s liaison to the youth sailing program. “We invest in it with our membership dues and donations because of the impact it makes. I’ve seen it firsthand with my own kids and hundreds of the youth that we serve.”
The club welcomes junior sailors to summer camp regardless of their ability to pay, Rudowicz said, and has supplied campers who did not have life jackets or sunscreen with the gear needed to participate.
The Coronado Yacht Club sits on land under a state-created public trust overseen by the Port of San Diego. The California Coastal Commission, which preserves coastlines and public access to them, was approved by ballot proposition in 1972, and made permanent by the 1976 California Coastal Act.
Critics of the commission say it impedes development, contributes to housing shortages, and oversteps its authority by preventing local governments from making their own decisions. Indeed, the CCC is often considered – and at times, criticized – by leaders in Coronado: It impacted the city’s decision on whether to ban beach bonfires, as an example.
Supporters of the Coastal Commission say sufficient coastal planning is necessary for environmental protection and to ensure the public maintains access to the coast. The European Commission, for example, is currently embroiled in a decades-long battle with Italy over its heavily privatized beaches, which limits public access without payment.
Regardless of opinion, California law requires that redevelopment of the Coronado Yacht Club be approved by the Coastal Commission.
At the Board of Port Commissioners meeting, the atmosphere was optimistic that the CCC would approve of the increased public access included in the club’s proposal. The commission approved the proposal for environmental review unanimously.
“We are thrilled to advance the Coronado Yacht Club redevelopment project to the environmental review stage,” Urtasun said in a statement. “With no public funding, this proposal revitalizes a cherished community asset and enhances public access and engagement with our beautiful San Diego Bay. By modernizing the yacht club facilities, we are ensuring the yacht club continues to serve and inspire future generations.”
