San Diego Reopens 13 Mission Bay Park Restrooms Through December

Thirteen Mission Bay Park restrooms began reopening Friday, Aug. 14, after closing in early July as part of San Diego’s adopted Fiscal Year 2027 budget reductions. The city’s current funding arrangement keeps the facilities operating through December 2026, but does not guarantee service for the remainder of the fiscal year.

Mayor Todd Gloria, Council President Joe LaCava and Councilmember Jennifer Campbell announced the restoration Wednesday, Aug. 12. The funding combines discretionary Community Projects, Programs and Services allocations from LaCava and Campbell with General Fund resources made available by higher-than-expected state grant funding.

Reopening is temporary for now

The arrangement restores service at 13 affected Mission Bay Park locations through the end of calendar year 2026. The city plans to reassess the service during its midyear budget review and evaluate whether the restrooms can remain open through the full fiscal year.

That review is a future evaluation, not a decision to continue funding. Residents, families, workers, visitors and businesses using Mission Bay Park therefore have restored access in the short term, while the longer-term budget question remains unresolved.

These are the 13 locations

The city identified the reopening locations as:

• El Carmel
• Ventura Point
• Bonita Cove East
• Hospitality Point
• Vacation Isle West
• South Shores
• North Cove
• Crown Point South
• Ski Beach North
• Ski Beach Middle
• Tecolote North
• Playa Pacifica III
• De Anza South

The city announcement said the Parks and Recreation Department would begin reopening all 13 affected facilities on Aug. 14. That announcement did not establish that every restroom was fully operational at every moment.

Budget cuts prompted the closures

The facilities closed in early July after the City Council adopted Fiscal Year 2027 budget reductions. The city said those reductions closed 13 of Mission Bay Park’s 24 public restrooms. July reporting documented a dispute over whether available funds could support reopening and maintenance.

An earlier Office of the Independent Budget Analyst review provides additional budget context. Issued June 3, 2025, the analysis described a restoration scenario for 13 of 28 permanent Mission Bay Park restrooms and estimated a need for 5.68 full-time-equivalent positions and approximately $517,000.

The IBA figures were an earlier restoration estimate, not the final amount of the 2026 arrangement announced by the city. The current plan instead uses District 1 and District 2 CPPS allocations along with General Fund resources linked to higher-than-expected state grant funding.

For now, the practical change is that 13 previously closed Mission Bay Park restrooms are being returned to service, with funding in place through December 2026 and a midyear review still ahead.

Sources

• City of San Diego announcement on the Mission Bay restroom reopening
• KPBS report on the Mission Bay restroom funding dispute