Soapy Joe’s Car Wash is going to stick to lathering up cars at its current locations instead of expanding its empire to Barrio Logan.
What went down: City Hall reporter Mariana Martínez Barba learned on Friday that the San Diego car wash chain abandoned its plan to purchase a property on Boston Avenue in Barrio Logan after it bid on the property in a state auction.
Soapy Joe’s representatives didn’t get back to us about the decision, but it’s likely they didn’t want get into a messy fight with the city and community. That’s because the community’s planning document identifies the property as a future park — a big need for the neighborhood. However, a mistake by planning staff left the site zoned for commercial use instead of park use.
When city planners discovered the mistake, they asked a state commission set to approve the purchase to deny the sale. Here’s how Heidi Vonblum, planning department director, put it in a Feb. 10 letter.
“Allowing the sale of this property to proceed is problematic for several reasons. First, it would result in the transfer of publicly-owned land to a private entity for a use that was never intended under the adopted community plan, permanently foreclosing an opportunity to provide much-needed park space in Barrio Logan.”
She went on.
“Second, any private development on this site would require a Coastal Development Permit. As part of that process, the city would be required to make findings that the proposed development is consistent with the Barrio Logan Community Plan — findings that could not be made for a commercial car wash or similar use since those are not uses consistent with its designation for a park. As a result, any private purchaser would likely encounter significant and unanticipated permitting obstacles, including but not limited to amending the General Plan and Community Plan, which would be inconsistent with the General Plan and Community Plan goals and policies, and would not be supported by the city of San Diego.”
The other park affected: Chicano Park is also zoned as commercial use instead of park use. A group that oversees that park raised concerns that the city did not notify them about the process. The City Council voted on Tuesday to fix the errors.
An update: Martínez Barba learned late on Friday that Caltrans handed over the property on Boston Avenue to the city of San Diego, which plans to move forward with plans to break ground on a park in 2029.
Cesar Chavez, Who?
San Diego agencies and schools were quick to act this week after The New York Times published allegations that labor leader Cesar Chavez had sexually assaulted and raped women and young girls. Icon Dolores Huerta was among those who accused him of rape. The NYT story is here.
The fallout was fast — probably the fastest we’ve seen? As elected officials and organizations reacted to the news, I thought of all the things named after him: streets, schools, parks, buildings, etc.
I asked around and learned that many are considering renaming all those things. Cal State San Marcos covered up a statue. San Diego Councilmember Vivian Moreno asked Mayor Todd Gloria to rename Cesar Chavez Parkway in Barrio Logan. And schools are also thinking about how to handle the renaming.
I am still super curious about all the murals. I can think of a few at Chicano Park. But I’m sure there are others across the city. If you know of one, send me an email: andrea.sanchez@voiceofsandiego.org.
No, We Didn’t Call Riverside ‘Nobody’
On Thursday, we published a story about a deal San Diego is working on to sell water to other states. Environment reporter MacKenzie Elmer wrote that the San Diego County Water Authority is moving forward with plans to explore trading Colorado River water. The agency plans to explore those plans with Nevada, Arizona and the feds.
Elmer wrote that nobody had signed on yet. She had been working on that story for weeks, but the day she turned it in, the agency held a press conference to celebrate another deal: one they reached to sell water to Riverside.
We work on a different news cycle than other outlets and sometimes our timing makes us look like geniuses, but sometimes its awkward.
Her story about the larger deal dropped the same day officials announced the Riverside deal. Our original headline was “San Diego Celebrates Interstate Colorado River Deal with Nobody.” That was in reference to the deal no one has signed yet.
There seemed to be some confusion that we called Riverside “nobody.” I added to that confusion by using an image from the press conference. But as someone who grew up in Riverside and still has family there, I can confirm that we were not calling Riverside “nobody.” Still, we updated the headline and photo to avoid confusion and be more precise.
Dispatch from Lisa Halverstadt:
The county government beat continues to be action-packed. Here’s a rundown of what’s kept me busy lately.
News I’ll be watching this week: On Friday, I wrote about transparency concerns surrounding county Board of Supervisors subcommittees meeting behind closed doors. This Tuesday, Supervisor Joel Anderson will ask fellow board members to back his proposal to mandate more transparency going forward.
The big story I’m still working: Earlier this month, I got my hands on a blockbuster internal county review of a county contractor caught up in criminal misappropriation scandal. The report, which the county initially resisted releasing, spotlighted lots of oversight shortcomings.
I’m pulling on more threads surrounding the Harm Reduction Coalition of San Diego debacle. Among them: When did the county learn of ex-COO Amy Knox’s 2015 embezzlement conviction and what did it do upon learning of it? (Prosecutors now accuse Knox of misappropriating at least $210,000 in public funds.) How did the Harm Reduction Coalition get a second county contract after a 2023 audit revealed a slew of internal control issues?
I’ve submitted several records requests to try to get to the bottom of these questions and am chatting with as many folks as I can. But the county let me know a couple Fridays ago that it’s done answering questions for now.
Here’s what county spokesperson Tim McClain emailed me on March 6 along with responses to more than two dozen questions: “We appreciate your continued interest in this topic and have worked to be transparent and responsive to your ongoing Public Records Act requests and questions. Based on previous responses, released documents, media statements and the extensive information below, we are considering that your questions have been addressed. With the exception of the pending PRAs, there will be nothing further to add while the District Attorney’s investigation remains active and the county’s audit work continues.”
Also, ICYMI: I recently revealed that County Board Chair Terra Lawson-Remer spent $89,000 in taxpayer money to poll-test potential ballot measures that would raise taxes and reform county government. The county says it’s cool but a prominent election attorney has some concerns.
Women Leading the Conversation
Don’t forget to get your tickets to our Women Leading the Conversation event. It’s all going down on Thursday, March 26. Get your tickets here: vosd.org/wltc2026.
Note from me: I’m off next week. Get your San Diego chisme from our Morning Report if you’re not already a subscriber.