The Times of San Diego reported that, in mid-August 2026, the California Coastal Commission voted unanimously to approve San Diego's plan to re-wild De Anza Cove, the water that runs along Bay Park's entire western edge. The vote closed a planning fight that started back in 2015 and cleared the biggest regulatory hurdle the project has faced. It also describes almost nothing you will actually see on your next walk down to the water.
That's the part worth understanding before the headlines settle. The De Anza Natural plan and the construction already underway a few hundred yards away are two different projects moving on two very different clocks, and confusing them is the easiest way to misjudge what's coming to your own shoreline this year.
What's Already Changed on the Ground
While the Coastal Commission spent the summer deliberating over wetlands, the City quietly finished a different, smaller project. South De Anza's playground, basketball courts, and restroom building reopened around Memorial Day 2026, part of a $14.5 million rebuild that also covers a full parking lot repair. The old equipment had been closed since August 2024, when city inspectors found the metal and steel playground structure corroded past the point of safety, a common fate for anything left exposed to Mission Bay's salt air for too long.
The work isn't finished. California's Coastal Commission bans coastal construction through the summer, so the remaining paving, concrete, and landscaping at South De Anza paused after Memorial Day and was scheduled to pick back up after Labor Day, with the full project scheduled for completion by spring 2027.
A quarter mile south, Ventura Cove is on its own version of the same schedule. The city already finished an initial parking lot upgrade, and the next phase, a new ADA-compliant restroom building along with expanded, accessible sidewalks and parking that includes electric vehicle charging conduits, is underway now with a target of substantially finishing by October 2026 and full completion by early 2027. That $4.4 million project is designed to have its concrete and landscaping done before the rainy season complicates the finish work.
South De Anza and Ventura Cove together total $18.9 million, and a related rebuild is also underway at Fanuel Street Park; all three projects are separate from the wetlands debate that made headlines this summer.
| Project | Scope | Cost | Target Completion |
|---|---|---|---|
| South De Anza | Playground, basketball courts, restrooms, parking lot | $14.5 million | Spring 2027 |
| Ventura Cove | New restroom, accessible sidewalks, EV charging, parking | $4.4 million | Early 2027 |
| De Anza Natural (wetlands) | Habitat expansion from about 70 to 260 acres | Not yet budgeted | 20+ years |
Where the Money Actually Comes From
None of this construction draws on the city's general fund, which matters if you've followed any of San Diego's other budget fights this year. The Mission Bay Park Improvement Fund was created by voters through Proposition C in 2008 and Measure J in 2016, and it dedicates a share of Mission Bay's lease revenue, the money hotels and marinas pay to operate on public parkland, specifically to park capital improvements. South De Anza and Ventura Cove both draw from that fund.
That funding structure is also why Bay Park residents likely won't be asked to pay for parking at their own bay anytime soon. City leaders had floated the idea of charging for parking at Mission Bay and its beaches, but appear to be stepping back from it after the backlash San Diego saw over parking fees at Balboa Park. For a neighborhood where the bike path, the dog beach on Fiesta Island, and the calm water at Enchanted Cove are treated as an extension of the backyard, that's not a small detail.
The Slower, Bigger Plan Underneath It
The De Anza Natural amendment the Coastal Commission approved is a different animal entirely. At full build-out, it would convert Campland on the Bay and most of the current Mission Bay RV Resort into tidal wetlands, expanding habitat in the area from roughly 70 acres to a little over 260. The Commission's approval came with conditions the original 2024 plan lacked: engineering studies must now prove that two proposed channels for redirecting part of Rose Creek through the cove will actually work before construction starts, and the city must adopt enforceable water quality monitoring standards, given that Mission Bay is already listed as impaired for mercury, PCBs, and bacteria.
Phillip Musegaas, executive director of San Diego Coastkeeper, has been tracking this plan for years and doesn't pretend it's close to finished.
"A lot of the work we do is going to outlive us."
— Phillip Musegaas, quoted by NBC 7 San Diego
He's estimated the full transformation could take at least twenty years. Andrew Meyer, who directs conservation efforts at the San Diego Bird Alliance and leads the 101-member ReWild Coalition that pushed for the changes, called the Commission's outcome a clear win, and the coalition says the approval commits the city to planning for marsh migration onto a proposed island as sea levels rise, using modeling the U.S. Geological Survey developed specifically for Mission Bay.
None of that changes what you'll bike past this winter. It does mean that the cove's long-term shape, not its 2026 amenities, has taken a major step forward.
Why the Land Looks the Way It Does
If you've ever wondered why De Anza Cove has felt like a place perpetually waiting for something, there's a real reason. The cove was once home to a mobile home community of more than 500 households, built on city-owned Mission Bay parkland under a lease arrangement that expired in 2003. What followed was an 11-year legal fight between residents and the city that ended with a $32 million settlement in 2014, after which most residents left over the following two years. The vacated homes sat on the property for years afterward before the city finally removed them and converted the land to the recreation and camping use you see today.
That history explains the empty stretches along the cove that don't quite match the rest of Mission Bay's built-out shoreline. It also explains why this year's approval carries more weight locally than a typical zoning vote. People have been watching this particular parcel change hands, sit vacant, and get re-planned for over two decades.
What Happens Next, and When
The De Anza Natural plan still has to clear one more procedural step. It's expected to return to the San Diego City Council for formal adoption around mid-October 2026, at which point the city begins its General Development Plan process, the phase where actual site designs, cost estimates, and construction schedules get worked out in public meetings. That process is where residents will get their first real look at things like trail alignment, the location of a proposed nature center, and how camping and RV space gets redistributed as wetlands expand.
Until then, the plan exists on paper. The projects that will physically change your daily walk are the ones already funded and under construction.
What You'll Actually Notice This Fall and Winter
If you're circling Mission Bay on foot or by bike over the next few months, here's what's real right now:
- South De Anza's playground, basketball courts, and restrooms are open again after a two-year closure, with paving and landscaping having been scheduled to resume after Labor Day
- Ventura Cove's new restroom and expanded, EV-ready parking are under active construction, targeting substantial completion by October 2026
- Tecolote Shores remains the easiest access point for the paved Mission Bay bike path if you're starting from the Bay Park side
- Fiesta Island and Dog Beach remain the bay's two leash-free areas, unaffected by any of the current construction
The wetlands, the nature center, and the twenty-year restoration of De Anza Cove are real, and they are coming. They are just not this year's story. This year's story is a reopened playground, a new restroom with EV charging, and a City Council date in October that decides what gets built after that.
If you spend your mornings on this stretch of the bay and want to know what's changing before it shows up in a headline, Stu Harvey tracks Bay Park's shoreline projects as part of living and working in this part of San Diego, and is always glad to talk through what's next for the cove.
This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.
