The Otay Valley Regional Park will represent one of the major open space areas within the southern area of San Diego County, linking south San Diego Bay with lower Otay Lake. It will provide South Bay residents and visitors recreational opportunities ranging from playing fields and picnic areas to hiking, biking, and horse trails. At the same time, the park will protect open space, wildlife, historic, agricultural, and archaeological resources. Currently there are no active or passive recreational areas in the park, other than the County-owned and operated facility at Otay Lakes. However, there are plans for multi-use areas and an extensive trail system within the park's boundaries, and the various jurisdictional agencies are now actively pursuing land acquisition for the park.
The planning area for Otay Valley Regional Park (OVRP) is located in the southern portion of San Diego County, four miles north of the United States/Mexico International Border. The regional park will extend about 11 miles inland from the southeastern edge of the salt ponds at the mouth of the river, through the Otay River Valley, to the land surrounding both Lower and Upper Otay Lakes. The Concept Plan forms the basis for creation of the OVRP. You can view a copy of this Concept Plan in PDF format here.
Otay Valley Regional Park (OVRP) is a multi-jurisdictional planning effort by the County of San Diego and the cities of San Diego and Chula Vista. In 1990, the jurisdictions entered into a Joint Exercise of Powers Agreement for coordinated planning, acquisition, and design for OVRP. The agreement established a three-member Policy Committee (PC) of elected officials and a 30-member Citizens Advisory Committee (CAC).
Current Policy Committee Members:
County of San Diego
Greg Cox, Supervisor 1st District
619-531-5511
City of San Diego
Ben Hueso, Councilman District 8
619-236-6688
City of Chula Vista
John McCann, Councilmember
619-691-5044
The JEPA also establishes a 30-member Citizen Advisory Committee (CAC) to advise the policy committee on matters relating to the planning, acquisition, and design of OVRP. The CAC also advised the policy committee on land use matters within the Focused Planning Area that could impact the Regional Park. CAC membership traditionally represents community organizations, property owners, developers, businesses, residents, and recreation and environmental interest groups.
Staff from each jurisdiction work together on the regional park planning effort. Joint Staff provides technical park planning support and administrative assistance to the policy committee as well as to the CAC. The County of San Diego has the lead for administrative responsibilities and maintains the official records for the JEPA.
Please see the Friends of OVRP web site at www.ovrp.org for additional information.
Current Joint Staff Members:
County of San Diego
Chuck Tucker, Park Project Manager
858-966-1352
Chuck.Tucker@sdcounty.ca.gov
City of San Diego
Robin Shifflet
Park Designer
619-533-3894
rshifflet@sandiego.gov
City of San Diego
Theresa Millette
Associate Planner
619-235-5206
tmillette@sandiego.gov
City of Chula Vista
Frank Herrera-A
Associate Planner
619-691-5094
fherrera-a@ci.chula-vista.ca.us
City of Chula Vista
Ed Batchelder
Advance Planning Manager
619-691-5005
ebatchelder@ci.chula-vista.ca.us
For more information about the management of this preserve, go to this page.
