PANEL CHOOSES REDISTRICTING MAP TO GO TO COUNCIL

Members of the Chula Vista City Council next month are expected to consider new boundaries that aim to preserve current district lines as much as possible while incorporating the billion-dollar bayfront project between two districts.

After selecting a draft map in October, the Chula Vista Redistricting Commission last week approved the final version it wants the City Council to consider for adoption before the state’s deadline of Dec. 15.

Whatever boundaries are approved, the city will use them for the next decade, including its June elections to elect the next mayor, city attorney and council members for districts One and Two. Redistricting is the process of redrawing the boundaries of districts from the local municipal to congressional levels, which happens every 10 years using the latest census data.

National Demographics Corporation, the city’s demographic consultant, looked at several factors to draft maps over the course of nearly 20 public meetings. Those elements included that each district has a reasonably equal population, avoid racial gerrymandering and respect existing natural features and communities of interest.

The commission’s recommended boundaries are as follows:

• District One still includes the northeast portion of the city but loses a portion of the Rancho Del Ray community between Paseo Ranchero and Paseo del Rey to share with District Two. It also gains Southwestern Community College from District Three.

• District Two expands farther east to gain the portion of the Rancho Del Rey community and will share the bayfront development with District Four, with boundaries west of Interstate 5 from Lagoon Drive.

• District Three loses the college, a small portion of the Eastlake Village area and most of the communities between Interstate 805 and Brandywine and Oleander avenues.

• District Four gains the aforementioned communities from District Three and the bayfront project east of Lagoon Drive and west of Interstate 5.

The draft map had suggested adding all the communities east of state Route 125 from District Three to District One and added the Rancho Del Rey community to District Two rather than share it with District One. This map also kept the bayfront solely within District Two.

Commissioners and members of the community said the final map does a better job of keeping communities together and creates fewer redrawing changes but also helps District Four grow because it has been the most underpopulated.

A big theme in helping District Four grow was incorporating the bayfront development. The original drawing of the map commissioners selected kept the project in District Two but there was a strong consensus between the public and commissioners to have it be shared between the two areas.

Commissioner Michael Juan pushed for the move after an initial vote to adopt the map without the bayfront split failed to pass.

“I think that fairness and how we’re considering fairness simply by numbers and people in areas, I think we gotta think beyond that. I think we have an opportunity to create access, to create opportunity for a lot of folks in District Four,” he said.

Known as the Chula Vista Bayfront Master Plan, the city and San Diego Unified Port District first broke ground on the mega project in September 2019 to make it a world-renowned destination on the city’s coast. When complete, it will include 70 acres of new parks, 120 acres of open space and wetlands, a shoreline promenade, hotels and a convention center, as well as mixed-use space.

The map splits the bayfront’s northern area into District Two and its southern portion in District Four. The northern part includes the new RV resort, some mixed-use commercial space and most of the green, open space, while the lower end includes the majority of its commercial, hotel and industrial parks.

For Commissioner Caneisha Fortner, the bayfront share is not even among the districts.

“Concerning the bayfront, I’m not really in agreeance that that’s an actual split as discussed only because, I mean, you’re not benefitting from having the marshlands … if it’s not on the commercial side,” she said. In the end, she voted for the map, which was her first option, even with the motion to include the bayfront share.

The project in two areas doesn’t give “any greater leverage or more funding or anything to the district, but I do see it as a gem in that it’s a positive to be shared by more than one district,” said Chair Gloria Hurtado.

Port Commissioner Ann Moore, who represents Chula Vista, did not respond to a request for comment on the map’s bayfront component.

The City Council is expected to review the map at its Dec. 7 meeting. Should the council disapprove of it, the redistricting commission could make modifications and those changes would be final and sent to the San Diego County Registrar of Voters for elections through 2030.