What Was the Rohr Park Master Plan Really About?
- Susan Heavilin
- 3 hours ago
- 5 min read
As of January 2018, there are over 718 acres of existing parkland in the system with a potential to grow by over 500 additional acres, according to the Chula Vista Parks & Recreation Master Plan Update. That statement alone indicates that Chula Vista has the potential to almost double in size its parkland acreage.
By the year 2030 the City is expected to reach a population level of 340,215 based on adopted General Plan land uses. And that additional growth will need additional parks.
Why Now? Why Rohr Park?
In the first Master Plan Workshop (05.29.25), they provided the following reasons for the remodeling of Rohr Park:
• Evolving recreational needs in Chula Vista
• Need to invest in aging park infrastructure
• Ensuring Rohr Park remains a safe, inclusive, and vibrant destination for all generations.
Currently, that swath of former Bonita land does belong to Chula Vista. The County gave it to them. But Chula Vista has not abided by the Covenant responsibilities laid out in the deed.
Would not their recreational needs be better met in Chula Vista Proper? The majority of the neighborhoods surrounding Rohr Park are inhabited by Bonita residents. So Chula Vista residents will need to leave their neck of the woods and drive over to this "island" within Bonita. All entrances and exits are accessed to and from Sweetwater Road, a narrow and already over-used thoroughfare. Director Carson stated that they will be making no improvement to that challenged area.
As for aging park infrastructure, do you need a Master Plan to replace some playground equipment? Or to fertilize the sports fields to make them greener? Or to install more lighting? I don't believe so.
Will the massive redesign ensure that Rohr Park be more safe, inclusive or vibrant? It appears that Rohr Park is already a desired destination because the sports fields are constantly in use as are the gazebos and picnic areas.
What Exactly is a Master Plan and Why is It Needed?
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"A master plan is a comprehensive, long-term strategic document guiding future growth and development for an area (like a city) or organization, acting as a blueprint that aligns current resources with future goals through detailed layouts for land, infrastructure, and uses, ensuring development is orderly, sustainable, and meets community or business objectives. It's a vision made real, incorporating elements like zoning, transport, environment, and public input to create a unified roadmap."—AI
It seems to me that a Master Plan would be utilized in planning the original park, not after it has been used for many years. Most of the "needed" items are just upkeep. Can you imagine pulling new permits every time you painted your house, put in new grass or landscaping, or changed your mailbox?
Phases of Construction
The "final" workshop on November 20, 2025 presented phases of completion . . .Short Term, Mid Term and Long Term.
Read the items in each phase slowly, carefully and compare them. Are they really ordered in a manner that makes sense? Read them again.
The creation of new softball fields are for the girls' teams because if I heard it correctly, they are suing the City for equity reasons. Additional fields are ludicrous. Girls softball vs boys baseball fields? Time to think outside the box to make everyone happy. They could find some attractive way to take the existing baseball fields and turn them into softball/baseball fields and mark the ground as such. Maybe inlays flush with the surface?
The Maintenance Yard and Storage Area have no business in a park, much less the middle of a park on prime land. It is perfectly fine in its current location unless they'd like to move it to one of the 500 acres of unused land they currently have possession of.
This should be the phase for the new restrooms, not ten plus years from now. Update the current ones and build new for all the additional people drawn in by the new amenities. It is important to meet the basic needs of the park goers.
The new soccer fields are being built as an excuse to remove the much needed horse arena. If they really need them, put them in the area allotted for the Maintenance Yard or consider the Golf Course. Leave the horse arena in place for the community to use at will. Bonita is Horse Country and a soccer field has endless places to be located.
Shade structures are an excuse to cut down the big beautiful trees and replace them with saplings that will take twenty or more years to reach the size of the existing trees. Do not cut down any more trees until the Master Plan is agreed upon. The plan shows the trees won't be planted for 6-10 years. Our current trees provide plenty of shade.
The second phase might be pushed to the end of that period closer to the ten year mark and the third phase even longer. I wonder if these two phases will ever be constructed.
What Now?
Bonita is trying to be a good neighbor but enough is enough. The City of Chula Vista needs to be a good neighbor. Where is the reciprocity?
Because of how this entire Master Plan has been handled, we don't trust the City anymore.
Director Carson was unnecessarily rude to the attendees at the Final 11.20.25 Master Plan Meeting at the Provence House. He had a microphone only for his own use. He had a chilling effect on that meeting, not letting the people talk.
He had told me personally at the September 2, 2025 Planning Meeting that they would not touch the horse arena and that it was remaining in place. I have the recording to prove it. He has been disingenuous on more than one occasion and has lost the confidence of the Bonita community.
The entire Master Plan feels like one big "bait and switch." We've been instructed to look one way when something not good for Bonita is happening in the other direction. The City is trying to take away our horse arena—the essence of this rural community—for reasons that don't make sense. Was this to get us focused on the arena while something else was being slipped in?
They have not been transparent about what the plan is . . the real plan. What else is on their agenda?
Is the real reason they don't address the chaos to be caused on Sweetwater Road is that they are hiding a plan to move their ingress/egress routes to Bonita Road, wider and more direct to Chula Vista?
Why are the agenda items for various agencies void of the true discussions taking place at their meetings?
Are they planning to build a virtual Disneyland in middle of our quiet, rural neighborhoods, complete with loud noise and brightly-lit night skies?
Is the purpose of the removal of the arena in reality a plan to remove our horses and urbanize our rural areas? What was the true purpose of the Master Plan?
Look at this final map. Is it what you envisioned? Is it what YOU want? Or is it just what the City of Chula Vista wants.
I have a lot of questions. You should have questions, too.
We need to slow this process down until we have a Master Plan that we can ALL agree on . . . not one that we regret the rest of our lives.
Rohr Park may be on their land but the community surrounding it is ours. Let's not let them destroy our peace and quiet . . . our tranquil countryside . . . it's the reason we chose to live in Bonita.
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