Port approves plan for 8,000 acres of expanded territory in San Diego Bay

The local agency that controls the land around San Diego Bay has finalized the governing document that will expand its authority to 7,900 more acres in the bay and another 100 acres on land.

Last week, the Board of Port Commissioners for the San Diego Unified Port District unanimously approved what’s known as the Trust Lands Use Plan, or TLUP, a land-use framework for the mostly submerged lands transferred to the agency in 2020. The commissioners also approved the plan’s associated environmental impact report, or its Mitigated Negative Declaration, which determined that there will be no significant effects once mitigation measures are implemented.

The actions advance the plan for consideration by the California Coastal Commission.

The TLUP is an amendment to the Port Master Plan that, once certified by the Coastal Commission and approved by the California State Lands Commission, will give the port permitting authority over what has colloquially been referred to as “the doughnut hole.” The moniker describes how the port’s jurisdiction has historically wrapped around the coastline of the entire bay, from Shelter Island to the South Bay and Coronado, but excluded the more central water areas.

The mostly submerged lands, previously held in trust by the State Lands Commission, were transferred to the port on Jan. 1, 2020, through California Senate Bill 507. The w...