10,000 Acres of San Diego Canyon Land One Step Closer to "Dedicated"

Assemblyman Nathan Fletcher, R-San Diego, today announced his support for a bill to preserve about 10,000 acres of San Diego canyon land for open space and recreation.

Many areas, including canyons that are owned by the city, are designated as open space. However, they have no formal protection from being sold, transferred or converted for other uses, which could be done by a city council vote, according to a statement from Fletcher's office.

SB 1169, authored by Sen. Christine Kehoe, D-San Diego, and introduced by the senator Feb. 22, would allow the lands to be deemed “dedicated.” Once dedicated, the canyon lands could only be converted to another use by two- thirds voter approval.

“I am proud to support protecting more than 10,000 additional acres of our canyonlands,” said Fletcher, who is running for mayor of San Diego. “ Diego's canyons are one of our city's most important and unique resources. Dedicating this land will protect and preserve irreplaceable open space and recreational opportunities that define our neighborhoods.”  

The purpose of dedicating city land is to provide for reliable open space preservation and recreational opportunities within communities. It also provides a framework as the city continues to grow, the statement said.

San Diego Canyonlands is looking to turn these open space acres of City land into "dedicated" open space through this change in legislation. San Diego Canyonlands, a nonprofit, has visited numerous community planning organizations in San Diego County to present its initiative to save the 10,000 acres.

The La Jolla Community Planning Association voted to support this effort at a Nov. 3, 2011 meeting. Will Anderson, a programs manager at San Diego Canyonlands, said his organization hopes to dedicate 10,000, including four segments in La Jolla. Some of the land that could be dedicated is along the  Fay Avenue bike path and a small 0.17 acre site on Mount Soledad. 

–City News Service contributed to this report.