(Mission Times Courier, San Diego, CA)  Sen. Christine Kehoe's (D-San Diego) bill to protect 6,000 acres of open space in San Diego passed the Assembly Sept. 6 and now heads to the governor for action.  "My legislation allows the City of San Diego to live up to its commitment to protect our urban canyons and other open space," said Kehoe
Under Senate Bill 373, 6,000 acres of city-owned open space, including large tracts in Mission Trails Regional Park, Los Penasquitos Canyon Preserve, and Otay Valley Regional Park, will become "dedicated." Such status means that a public vote would be required for those areas to be used for anything other than open space or park land. Previously, such action required only city council approval.
 
The city intended to convert these lands to "dedicated" status a decade ago, but a lack of funding derailed those efforts. SB 373 saves the City of San Diego an estimated $1.5 million in processing costs, and requires the city council to adopt before 2008 a list of specific parcels to be protected.