OCEANSIDE — The Oceanside City Council has taken a significant step toward officially dedicating El Corazon Park as parkland while nailing down how the site’s tax revenues from residential and commercial activities will fund its development and maintenance.
The measure to develop a plan designating the site as parkland, introduced by Mayor Esther Sanchez and Deputy Mayor Eric Joyce at a Jan. 22 council meeting, received unanimous approval.
The decision marks a milestone in a decades-long effort to transform the 465-acre property, which Silica Sand Mining Company gifted to the city in 1994 after its mining operations ceased.
El Corazon, or “the heart” in Spanish, sits at the center of Oceanside and has been the focus of extensive planning since 1995 when the City Council initiated a long-term use plan.
By 2003, a 15-member El Corazon Planning Committee was established to oversee the development of a conceptual master plan for the site. Sanchez, first elected to the council in 2000, appointed members to the committee, many of whom continue to advocate for the park’s realization.
El Corazon is home to several facilities, including the SoCal Sports Complex, El Corazon Senior Center, William A. Wagner Aquatic Center, new residential developments, and the recently opened 7,500-seat Frontwave Arena.
The property also hosts a green waste and composting recycling facility.
“We’ve done an amazing job,” said Carolyn Kramer, a member of the original El Corazon committee. “A lot of good things in that park are going to happen.”
Despite significant progress, much of the planned parkland has yet to be physically built. Nearly three years ago, the City Council approved an agreement with Schmidt Design Group to design Park Site 1, a 17-acre public park near the northwestern corner of Rancho Del Oro and El Corazon Drive.
City Manager Jonathan Borrego said the city could use $8 million in surplus funds from the 2023-2024 fiscal year to help close the funding gap for constructing Park Site 1.
City staff plans to bring an item advancing Park Site 1 to a future council meeting.
“I look forward to making that happen as soon as possible,” Sanchez said.
As for formally dedicating El Corazon as parkland and establishing funding mechanisms, Borrego suggested a General Plan amendment to define the property’s usage and allocate tax revenues from commercial and residential areas to support the park’s development.
“That was the dream of the original committee – to create a park and to have it dedicated as parkland, and the commercial area around it was to be used to support the park,” Kramer said. “That was the whole concept.”
