Proposed budget cuts in the City of San Diego are likely to have significant impact on beach services. According to the current proposal, the areas impacted will be Mission Bay and San Diego Beaches, including Mission Beach, Pacific Beach, and La Jolla Shores.

The beach services affected include fire rings and bathrooms. A total of 186 fire rings will be pulled from Mission Bay and San Diego Beaches. And in addition, there will be 14 bathroom closures, one north of the Kellog Park in La Jolla Shores, another north of Mission Beach, and the remaining twelve in Mission Bay, said Stacey LoMedico, Park and Recreation Director for the City of San Diego. The “Winter Closure”, as it has been dubbed, will take effect from November 08’ through March ’09, if approved by the San Diego City Council.

Two public hearings considering the ‘Winter Closure’ have been scheduled for the month of November. The first took place on November 12th, where local residents were given a chance to present their arguments and testimonies before the council. And the second is scheduled for November 19th, but it isn’t clear whether public testimonies will be taken during this session.

At this point, the decision for the ‘Winter Closure’ remains undecided and a few changes are currently under consideration. One of these changes concerns the bathrooms at La Jolla Shores. Instead of closing the bathroom north of the Kellog Park, city officials are considering keeping it open while shutting down the bathroom south of the Park. This consideration to change plans resulted partly from the input of local residents, some of whom argued that the winter traffic, which is comprised primarily of surfers, relies more often on the bathroom north of the parking lot. But whether north or south, a decision is likely to be reached on November 19th.