Stop the walling off of San Diego’s waterfront

Re “After pushback, 30-year vision for San Diego’s bayfront now includes fewer hotel rooms” (Oct. 20): Pushback hasn’t stopped the Port’s excessive hotel proposal in the North Embarcadero. Instead officials carefully misrepresented the plan.

I read the revised draft of the Master Plan Update. Between Ash and B streets, the proposal says “develop up to 950 hotel rooms.” That isn’t true. They actually want an additional 950 rooms on top of the Wyndham’s 600 rooms. That’s 1,550 rooms on two blocks. Secondly, the Port spins the number of rooms as “reduced by 450.” But it started at 2,000 rooms. Again, that leaves us with 1,550 rooms. The combined Lane Field hotels, Intercontinental plus Marriott, have 800 rooms. The Port’s plan doubles that density. The Port wants to fit four of those hotels on these two blocks.

The Port hid the number to stop residents’ anger about walling off the city from the bay. It didn’t work. Paula Jones

Downtown

On Nov. 10, the Port board is scheduled to consider one of the largest, most ill-conceived and inappropriate projects ever presented to it, the proposed Fifth Avenue Landing Project Port Master Plan Amendment. This project would feature a 44-story, 498-foot tall hotel built over the existing public Bayfront Promenade at the entrance to Embarcadero

Marina Park South, less than a stone’s throw from the bay on two sides.

Among the numerous distressing f laws of this proposal are: It is clearly inconsistent with the existing Port master plan; would forever foreclose the opportunity to implement the approved phase three convention center expansion; and would permanently block public views up and down the coast and over the bay, as well as impairing sunlight access. The developer has made no public outreach effort. Please urge denial of this proposed desecration of our public coastline.

Mark Stephens Downtown