The community’s six-year push to turn a small BMX space in Mission Trails Regional Park into a large, kid-friendly “Skills Park” may finally be gaining traction.
In 2008, a small group of park-goers approached Mission Trails Regional Park (MTRP) to address what’s currently known as the Deerfield BMX Park. Located on the eastern edge of the city-controlled open space, Deerfield BMX is filled with steep hills and several large jumps. The group argued that while it’s a decent place for skilled riders to practice technical jumps, it’s hardly a place for a child to lose their training wheels.
Their idea was to expand and transform the two-acre space into a 13-acre bike skills park, which would not only continue to cater to the park’s current BMX riders, but invite riders of all skill levels to enjoy the space. In its best form, it would offer reprieve for families forced to ride bicycles in San Diego’s dense urban landscape.
Phil Moses, a resident near MTRP, said he was one of many that started the push for the renovation of Deerfield. Partnering with the San Diego Mountain Bike Association (SDMBA), the residents advocated for the city to renovate the area, but Moses said they got pushback from park’s staff and advisory groups over liability concerns.
Moses said despite any legal liability that might come along with developing the city-owned open space area, making it more kid-friendly was the right thing for the city to do.
“There’s some professional guys that go down there and jump, and that’s great. I don’t want to take that away from them,” Moses said. “You send a 12 year old down there that doesn’t know what they’re doing, and they’re going to get hurt.”
Ben Stone, president of the SDMBA, has been involved with the push for Deerfield’s renovation since 2008 as well. He said the liability concerns that were brought up in the past are waning, thankfully, due to the rising prevalence of unsupervised city recreational facilities, like city-owned skate parks.
But perhaps the biggest driver for the development of Deerfield is the fact that MTRP is currently updating its Master Plan, a document dictating long-term planning and development of the park. The city is now considering including a plan for future development of a Deerfield Skills Park, city staff said.
Another factor is a local ordinance that requires the amount of park space in a community to rise concurrently with the area’s population. Park staff said expanding and developing Deerfield could be an opportune way to counterbalance Grantville’s rising population.
In the past, Moses said the specific advisory group most opposed to the plan was MTRP’s Citizens Advisory Committee (CAC), a volunteer-run board that advises the MTRP Task Force on park matters. The Task Force is also an advisory board, although it is comprised of city officials, including Councilmember Scott Sherman, and directly advises MTRP staff.
A city staff member involved in park planning said that in recent meetings, the CAC has been more open to the idea of developing Deerfield. At their Sept. 2 meeting, the CAC is expected to decide whether or not to support incorporating plans for a Deerfield Skills Park into the MTRP Master Plan Update.
“The liability of this area would be the city’s responsibility and not the CAC’s, but they help oversee the park and they want to make sure everyone is safe,” the staff member said. “Ultimately the city is the landowner and they have to be responsible for the liability.”
Advocates won’t cross the finish line when the Deerfield Skills Park is written into the park’s master plan update though. The document only recognizes the potential of the site, but all the details — including detailed planning and securing funding — will still need ironing out. Another battle may arise once that process begins, Stone said.
“The city, historically, with some of these projects, has put them out for the low bid, so we have to make sure that whoever is chosen to do this project is qualified,” Stone said. “I want to aim for a world-class bike park.
“I think we can have a world-class bike park here in San Diego that not only serves the community, but would eventually tie into this whole trail system and make Mission Trails a destination.”
Many in the city say that a family-friendly outdoor biking area is long overdue. Stone pointed to the fact that there is currently only one bike skills park in the region, which was recently created in Valley Center.
Stone, Moses and MTRP’s executive director Jay Wilson each said that a disparity exists regarding what outdoor activities the city chooses to fund. Stone and Moses both pointed to an equestrian space built in MTRP over the last decade, reportedly costing over $1 million.
“How many people in the county own a horse?” Moses asked rhetorically.
Wilson spoke to a broader problem of the lack of developed outdoor space in the community.
“Frankly, unless you were involved in organized youth sports, what’s there to do in the area?” Wilson said. “There’s not a lot. And how many kids have bicycles?”
The CAC meeting takes place on at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 2 at the MTRP Visitors Center. Stone urges those in favor of a Deerfield Skills Park to attend the meeting to show support.
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