Nearly half of bathrooms in Mission Bay Park are closed, leaving an estimated 15 million annual visitors with fewer options when visiting the popular aquatic park that stretches from Sea World to Pacific Beach. Public health officials have warned that the decision — which is saving modest revenue in the city’s strained budget — could have repercussions beyond inconveniencing millions of people.
City officials waited to close the bathrooms until after the July 4 holiday weekend, when tens of thousands of people watched fireworks from the park.
The closures will save the city over half a million dollars this year, mostly in maintenance and cleaning costs. In addition to closing 13 permanent bathrooms, the city removed seven of the 14 portable bathrooms on Fiesta Island.
There are now some stretches in which open bathrooms are a mile apart. The city recently published a map of the remaining open bathrooms, which includes Fanuel Park, Belmont Park and Mission Point.
The city’s map of available restrooms in Mission Bay Park. (Screenshot by Drew Sitton/Times of San Diego)At some of the beaches and coves within the park, the city closed one bathroom and left open a nearby sister option, such as at Ski Beach, Tecolote, Bonita Cove, Crown Point, Vacation Isle and De Anza.
In other locations — S. Shores, Hospitality Point and El Carmel — the closures leave no remaining bathrooms nearby.
The remaining open bathrooms are:
PB Park – Ocean Front Walk/Grand Ave. PB Park – Ocean Front Walk/Mission Blvd. Santa Clara Recreation Center Bahia Bonita Cove West Ocean Front Walk/Belmont Park South Ocean Front Walk/Belmont Park S. Mission Beach – Ocean Front Walk/N. Jetty Road Mission Point Sunset Point Vacation Isle East Dana Basin Ski Beach South Crown Point North Fanuel Park De Anza North Playa Pacifica I Playa Pacifica II Fiesta Island Youth Camp Tecolote South Mission Bay Park offers boaters boat docks, launching facilities, sailboat and motor rentals. (File photo by Chris Stone/Times of San Diego)Mission Bay Park is unique for being equal parts land and water. At 4,325 acres, it is the largest aquatic park in the country with a variety of calm water recreation options like kayaking, paddle boarding, sailing, jet skiing and swimming. It also boasts diversions on land – 14 miles of bike paths, playgrounds, fire pits and open fields.
It’s a common destination for tourists and locals alike. With free parking and round-the-clock availability, it has also been favored by homeless San Diegans like Sam Cay, who stayed overnight at the H Barracks Lot, but relies on public bathroom access during the day.
“I am doing nothing but worrying about basic needs,” Cay said during a February interview. “Why is having a toilet a privilege?”
The closures limit their options, as Cay balances the need for sanitary facilities with limited funds for gas.
Men’s public bathroom at Spanish Landing Park on North Harbor Drive. (Photo by Thomas Murphy/Times of San Diego)Ahead of the city’s decision, UC San Diego public health officials raised the alarm about the risk of spreading disease. As they point out, 20 people died a decade ago from a Hepatitis A outbreak caused by San Diego’s lack of public bathrooms.
Studies from UC San Diego and San Diego State University have shown that inadequate bathroom access leads to other consequences, including “increased environmental contamination, reduced hand hygiene, worsening chronic health conditions and higher rates of public urination and defecation.”
“When public bathrooms disappear, human biological needs do not disappear with them,” wrote UCSD public health officials Francescia Torriani, Cheryl Anderson and Catheryn Yashar in June.
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