Children's Bicycle Park on Famosa and Nimitz Gains Support
Last Monday, Keighan Christenson and Scott Irwin were invited to meet with representatives from the city of San Diego to discuss the construction of a community bicycle park that was torn down last month.
I had an opportunity to meet with one of the supporters, Scott Irwin, last week to learn more about the events leading up to the destruction of the bicycle park last month and how he and eight* other community members are working on restoring the space so children in the Peninsula community and beyond can again have a safe, protected space to be outdoors and on a bicycle.
The bicycle park was created on an unused, vacant piece of land called Site 22 at the intersection of Nimitz and Famosa Boulevard. The San Diego Housing Commission (SDHC) purchased Site 22 from the city of San Diego years ago. The land was purchased with the intent of developing low income housing on the location. However, nothing has been built on that piece of land due to lack of funds and community support.
The meeting last Monday was attended by Council President Pro Tem Kevin Faulconer, Victoria Joes - Policy Advisor for the mayor of San Diego, Stacey LoMedico - Director of the San Diego Park and Recreation Department, Michael Patton - from Kevin Faulconer’s office - representative for the Midway/North Bay/OB/Point Loma area, Debbie Rhuan - Senior Vice President of Real Estate for the San Diego Housing Commission (owner of Site 22), Keighan Christenson and Scott Irwin - both supporters of the bicycle park and members of Freeride Famosa.
At the meeting last Monday, Christenson and Irwin shared the community park proposal titled, "Make Having Fun Legal", with the meeting attendees. I've highlighted some of my favorite talking points below:
After talking to Irwin, I learned that the bicycle park has repeatedly been built and then torn down despite community support and support from Councilmember Faulconer. I also learned that the local police was aware of the bicycle park and often would show up to ensure that nothing was awry. However, the park was never officially sanctioned and thus occasional complaints from a handful of naysayers would result in getting the park torn down.
This time however, through the power of social media and a petition to gain a broad spectrum of support, the supporters of the bicycle park now had a powerful voice:
The eight members who are part of Freeride Famosa and are spearheading the efforts to get the bicycle park rebuilt acknowledge that the city of San Diego has limited financial and personal resources. They listened to the mayor's message to be proactive and they proposed being creative when it comes to making this project happen. According to Freeride Famosa,
The Grass Roots model is similar to what currently exists but is sanctioned by the city. The benefit is community buy-in through sweat equity. Features are designed and maintained by the people who ride them. The park is respected and utilized. The professional model is an option but there is a cost factor.
At the meeting last Monday, Freeride Famosa prepared this proposal on their vision for the bicycle park,
At the meeting last Monday, Faulconer and LoMedico expressed their support for the proposal. Faulconer supported the idea of incorporating a community garden into the park design. Faulconer mentioned his office has received letters from community members in support of the community bicycle park proposal. LoMedico said the Park and & Recreation Department have a process for identifying the purpose/focus for new parks in San Diego. This includes collecting input from the community regarding the types of activities to be included (riding bikes, frisbee golf, walking dogs, etc...).
However the San Diego Housing Commission representative Debbie Rhuan said the SDHC was not interested in using the land for the development of a community bicycle park because they did not want to be responsible for the liability. LoMedico said Park & Rec. wanted to expand the number of parks available to our community but they were not interested in entering into a temporary agreement with the SDHC for the purpose of developing a community bicycle park. Park & Rec.wanted to own the land before they would willingly invest in the development of a park.
At this point, SDHC offered to sell the land to the city for the current market value rate. Although no one at the meeting knew what the current market value rate was, Rhuan shared the steps necessary to transfer ownership of the land from the SDHC to the city. Rhuan expressed interested in trading Site 22 to the city for another piece of land for equal value. Freeride Famosa was interested in exploring this idea and discussed a couple of potential options.
Rhuan stated the SDHC did not support bicycle riding on their land and that they would be posting additional “no tresspassing” signs, and requested no one ride bicycles at Site 22.
Christenson and Irwin proposed a “grass roots approach” to the design, construction, and maintenance of the proposed community park. See p.2 of the proposal for details.
Faulconer reaffirmed his support for the development of a community bicycle park at Site 22 and asked Freeride Famosa to continue working towards this goal.
Toward the end of the meeting, Faulconer asked the SDHC to appraise Site 22 for the purpose of identifying market value. Rhuan said this will take one to two months but they will fast-track the process. Faulconer then asked Freeride Famosa to identify other city real estate holdings that could potentially be used in a trade with the SDHC. Christenson and Irwin promised to contact the Peninsula Community Planning Board regarding being added to the April meeting agenda. Christenson and Irwin agreed to contact LoMedico once the item has been added to ensure that city staff would be present at the meeting. Christenson and Irwin also promised to share Faulconer’s support for a bicycle component to the community park when meeting with community groups. The group agreed that once PCPB support is obtained, they would work with the city designated City Planner to change community plan designation of Site 22 from affordable housing to community bicycle park. The group will meet again once the appraisal process is complete to discuss the status of the project which should take approximately two months.
* The eight main community members who spearheaded the efforts to ensure that a safe and dedicated space will created for the children who want to be outdoors and on a bicycle are:
Keighan Christenson
Ryan Floth
Stan Guerrero
Scott Irwin
Josh Job
Darren Miller
Cliff Nelson
Fred Robinson
Help get a beloved children's bicycle park rebuilt
Almost a month ago a bicycle track that was both loved and well used was torn down by the city of San Diego. This track was part of a larger bicycle park built on a unused and undeveloped land in Point Loma at the corner of Famosa and Nimitz Boulevard. The bicycle park was built by a group of friends who shared a passion for riding bikes and who wanted to share that love with others in the community.
According to Scott Irwin, one of the supporters of the bicycle park which is now a desolate space,
The bicycle park quickly became a local hangout for children and adults in the community. We were picking up trash, making sure kids were wearing helmets, and promoting being involved in a positive outdoor activity. We built jumps for all ages and ability levels and even taught the neighborhood kids how to fix flat tires and tune up their brakes. Parents were bringing their kids on the weekends. It was awesome!
On February 9th, the city sent a crew in to destroy the bicycle tracks that were built. Over 30 children were there to watch their park get destroyed. Fox 5 News showcased the destruction on the 10 O'Clock news.
The supporters of the bicycle park felt the idea of a bicycle park at the corner of Nimitz and Famosa was too good to die because of the tremendous positive impact the park had on the community. They formed a group called Freeride Famosa with the purpose of developing a multi-use community park.
After the park was leveled, Freeride Famosa contacted the city and started working with them to convert this undeveloped land into a community bicycle park.
District Two Councilmember, Kevin Faulconer, had his office reach out to Freeride Famosa on February 23rd to discuss the idea of recreating that beloved bicycle park at Site 22 (a.k.a the undeveloped land on the corner of Famosa and Nimitz). Now, Freeride Famosa has a meeting this coming Monday (March, 12) to discuss the transfer of the ownership of Site 22 from the San Diego Housing Commission to the City of San Diego for the purpose of developing a city bicycle park. During this meeting Freeride Famosa will begin conversations with the City Park & Rec Dept. about the steps necessary for development. The meeting will be attended by the following individuals:
- Council President Pro Tem Faulconer
- Michael Patton - Council Representative for the Ocean Beach / Point Loma area
- Rick Gentry - President, San Diego Housing Commission
- Stacey LoMedico - Park and Recreation Department
- Victoria Joes - Mayor’s Office
- and members of Freeride Famosa.
Freeride Famosa is currently developing a proposal to share during this meeting. I will post a copy of this proposal as soon as I receive a copy of it. However Freeride Famosa still needs your help to encourage the transfer of land ownership from the San Diego Housing Commission for the purpose of developing a community bicycle park at this location. Here is how you can help.
- They have created a petition to solicit community support in favor of this bicycle park. As of this writing 584 individuals out of a possible 1,000 have signed the petition. The results of this petition will be shared with the meeting participants this Monday.
- Freeride Famosa has developed a writing prompt to encourage children to express their support for the project.
- In the spirit of creating a multi-use park, the group is going to propose that they incorporate a community garden into the design.
Everyone in Point Loma who supports Freeride Famosa's efforts are very motivated to create something positive for the community and deserve all the support they can get.
10 Year Old Cyclist Hit by Van in Point Loma and another in El Cerrito
A reader wrote in about a collision that happened yesterday morning at Catalina and Wilcox in Point Loma.
A 10 year old cyclist was hit at Catalina and Wilcox. According to our reader,
the cyclist was hit when the van turned left across traffic hitting cyclist coming in opposite direction. Cyclist was hurt but was told she would be ok. That is all I know. Be careful on Catalina at all times!
According to our source, the cyclist that was hit was an aspiring youth cyclist who was just 10 years old. The young cyclist was taken to the hospital. The cyclist's father was also riding with his daughter when the collision happened. He declined help offered by fellow cyclists. I can only imagine that the father must have been terribly shaken by the incident.
The other source reporting this collision states that the "cyclist suffered from fractured leg and collar bone, which police said were not life-threatening."
Our source stated that the Chevy van responsible for the collision was a government issued van driven by a Navy enlisted man. From the looks of van in the above photo, it is a miracle that the young girl is even alive.
A second cyclist was hit near SDSU campus yesterday when a Hyundai driver struck the bicyclist as he tried to pass her,
The 23-year-old woman sustained non-life-threatening facial fractures
If you have any additional information about either of these two collisions, please do leave a comment or email admin@bikesd.org
We send the both cyclists and their families our thoughts and wishes for a speedy recovery.