A few weeks ago, we met with Brian Enge, the new CEO of Surf Cup soccer and expressed the concerns the community has in regards to the fields. He told me that Surf Cup would like to try to be a good neighbor. As positive as that sentiment is, Surf Cup made many promises to both the community and the city council in 2016 when their lease was signed. Sadly, most of those promises have not been kept and the city is to blame for not enforcing the points of the lease and the grant deed that runs with it. With the announcement of Drew Brees joining Surf Cup, we know there will be even more activities with the goal of the fields becoming a ‘super mega sports park’ and home to other sports besides soccer.
As many of you may know, the Fairbanks Polo Club homes is the successor to the grant deed that runs with the fields. In February of this year, their HOA sent a “Demand to Cease and Desist’ to the city. The city ignored it. As the Polo Club homes’ HOA considers their options, those of us in the neighboring communities that are affected and interested, may consider tagging on to their next step. In the meantime, there are other things we as a community can do.
The consensus so far, is that we want to emphasize our wish to continue to have soccer on the fields as long as there is some city oversight and code enforcement in place. So far, our complaints have fallen on deaf ears at the city. However, the musical chairs of elections and new players is in the works with the mayoral race, as well as city council members and city attorney, all up for election. Candidates are mentioning code enforcement as one of their primary platforms. Now is the perfect time for all of us to keep the conversation and awareness going by writing to as many city and county officials as possible. Do not feel that you need statistics or dates to quote- just speak from your experience and express your concerns. In addition, you can call or write the local news stations and newspaper journalists.
In addition, here are some email addresses you may want to write to:
Kristin.Gaspar@sdcounty.ca.gov
Scott.lewis@voiceofsandiego.org
Andrewkeatts@voiceofsandiego.org
Benjamin.mills@sdcounty.ca.gov
Below are some of the communities’ concerns:
Traffic: too many cars for our two lane roads, limited leeway for emergency vehicles, including fire engines to get through. In the event of a fire, an evacuation would be a disaster. With only one way in and one way out of the fields, the signage and traffic patrol on tournament days make for a treacherous road for bicyclists and motorists. In addition, the entrance on El Camino Real has been locked off. This traffic scenario is a serious and potentially dangerous situation. A traffic study is desperately needed.
Dust: The frontage road that Surf Cup uses for all it’s attendees and staff is not paved. They have water trucks but they do not sufficiently keep down the dust since Surf Cup removed the speed bumps that once slowed their traffic in and out. This level of dust is not healthy for the neighbors and certainly not healthy for our kids that are playing on the fields.
Port a Potties: there are over 42 porta potties on the fields and they are being emptied sometimes as late as 9:00 or 10:00 PM by trucks with industrial vacuum hoses and all the accompanying beeping of backing up, lights and noise; in the dark, without pans to catch any run off. This kind of activity should be conducted during regular business hours and monitored as any potential health and environmental hazard would be.
Noise, hours of operation and Days of activity: the city has told me they have put NO restrictions on the times of use for Surf Cup attendees or staff….. the result is we currently have activity starting as early as 5:45AM on some mornings (including Sundays!) and going on into the evenings sometimes as late as 10 PM and often for many days in a row. This has greatly affected the neighbors closest to the fields and violates simple city municipal codes.
Signage, fences, visual blight: the fields have now been doubled fenced and often have large signage akin to bill boards on the fields. This signage is expressly forbidden in the lease and and should have city oversight and enforcement.
Completion of the River trail: Surf Cup pledged to restore and complete the trail when they were granted their lease and this is something that we feel should certainly be enforced.
In closing, please let me say again, we appreciate the good things that Surf Cup and all sports do for our kids. Let’s try to work together to make this situation a win-win for all of us.