Higginson: Unfulfilled dreams in Poway Business Park

With all the recent press coverage about the Chargers potentially relocating to Los Angeles, I have been asked, “Could the Chargers build a stadium in Poway”? The answer now, and most likely always, is a no-brainer.

The only location in Poway conceivably available to site a stadium (assuming the city would consider one) is the Poway Business Park. From all reports, the Chargers need around 75 acres (depending on configuration and parking) and that amount of developable land is not available in Poway.

Land is key to any stadium project, but it is only part of the equation. The Chargers have never limited their search to San Diego and have explored other potential sites throughout the county. Each of those venues came with some combination of land use, infrastructure, and/or environmental deficiency.

Of course, each of these obstacles could (even in Poway) be remedied if you threw enough money at them. So, as you sift through all the rhetoric and pontification, you quickly discover what we already knew: this crusade by the Chargers to head north is driven by one main thing, more money.

As I hearken back 30 years, the very creation of the Poway Business Park was motivated by this same desire (though I trust more altruistic) for more money. A new source of money to develop an east-west corridor (Scripps Poway Parkway), along with 684 acres of industrial land providing additional revenue to the city. Today we enjoy a flourishing business park, but that has not always been the case. And while not the Chargers, there were in fact two large entertainment projects that wanted to make Poway their home.

In 1990 the Community Facilities District sold $38 million in tax-free municipal bonds. Then the recession hit, the savings and loan industry imploded and we were left with a glut of inexpensive industrial land. Poway made a $4.7 million loan to stave off bond defaults.

And then, along came Bill Silva. He was a Hollywood Bowl concert promoter who approached Poway about his dream to build California’s second largest open air amphitheater in our business park. Land was cheap and this 74-acre project, with a seating capacity of 20,000, would bring $500,000 annually to the city. It was a positive omen for a business park in distress.

Bill followed the process, commenced an Environmental Impact Report and began neighborhood meetings. With Jimmy Buffet somewhere in Margaritaville, Bill borrowed a sound system, cranked it up to 110 decibels and played AC/DC music for 90 minutes to test noise impacts. As the process played out, the project divided the city. Even San Diego and Miramar weighed in.

The day prior to our scheduled meeting to vote on the project, Bill withdrew his application for the amphitheater citing “lack of community support.” The council, on a 4-0 vote, forced “the final curtain call” on the amphitheater. The Poway project was moved to South County and became what is now known as the Sleep Train Amphitheater.

And then, along came George Millay, co-founder of Sea World. He had conceived of and built Wet & Wild Water Parks from Orlando to Brazil and had discovered cheap land in our business park. Contrary to the amphitheater, the Wet & Wild project was warmly embraced by the community. This family orientated water park, bringing the city new revenue and 300 teen jobs (along with a land-use change, from industrial to recreational), was approved unanimously. The land was graded and a wave pool dug. Then, no activity for a year. We would learn that George had lost an investor.

In the interim there was “A Miracle on the Hill” and our business park began flourishing. A feeding frenzy for industrial land commenced. Almost overnight, George’s property became much more valuable as industrial land and George sold his land. We felt like a jilted bride. While the city did receive $1 million, more importantly, we learned an important lesson, as we have with the Chargers. When it comes to a money grab, the more things seem to change, the more they stay the same.