On Sept. 22, the Del Mar City Council backed a concept design for Shores Park without taking a vote. Councilmembers generally agreed that, after some refinements, the layout from the Shores Park Master Plan Ad-hoc Advisory Committee is ready to become a final master plan. The city's summary of the design by Schmidt Design Group lists an updated field and court, a new ocean-view deck, a two-story community building, an event plaza, picnic, game and fitness areas, open lawn and on-site parking. The lower level is billed as a "park within a park."
Hoodline, drawing on the San Diego Union-Tribune's reporting, framed the meeting as a dog-park debate. The council voiced support for mixed use of the property while opinions differed on how it should be used. The ballfield is a fixed part of the plan, because a lease already decides it. The live questions are narrower than they sound, and they concern hours and the lower level.
The field has a lease behind it
The Winston School has been a tenant on the 5.3-acre site since 1988. The City bought the property in 2008, and the city's master plan page says the purchase was made with city funds plus significant contributions from the community and Winston. The Coast News reported the price at $8.5 million, and Hoodline puts Winston's contribution at $3 million.
Planning stalled after litigation started by Winston, then COVID arrived. The city says the City and Winston agreed to dismiss the lawsuit and sign an amended lease in September 2023. The Sandpiper reports that the revised lease runs to 2062. Under it, Winston requires a playing field and a full-size basketball court, and those facilities are to be available for public use during non-school hours.
That gives the design a fixed core.
Piece of the site | What the record says |
|---|---|
Upper-level field and full-size basketball court | Required by Winston's lease, which now runs to 2062, and open to the public in non-school hours |
Other upper-level additions | Ocean-view deck, two-story community building, event plaza, picnic, game and fitness areas, open lawn, on-site parking |
Lower level | A "park within a park" with picnic tables, walking paths, a children's play feature and a lawn area described in the city's summary with both off-leash and dog-free language |
Shared use of the field | Governed in the past by council ordinance, which the council can rescind |
The argument is about hours
The field can't move, so the fight is over who has it and when. The Sandpiper describes today's arrangement this way. Dogs share the playing field on a limited schedule, and that can restrict organized youth sports such as Little League.
The tension is old. Coast News coverage of an earlier round describes Little League using the park for more than 50 years. The league left after a fence separating dogs from ballplayers was removed as a safety hazard and off-leash dogs began chasing fly balls. The council then adopted a trial schedule that split off-leash time from organized-sports time. Later, a group called Del Mar K-9 Connections brought 250 signatures asking for more off-leash hours. Patch reported that the council voted 4-0 to keep the existing schedule until a master plan existed.
That master plan is what the Sept. 22 meeting moved forward. The council's stated approach for now is to monitor conditions, so the space stays clean and safe for Winston students while the process continues. The council also said it will keep weighing allowable uses. Current off-leash hours at the park are posted on site, and the city has set them by ordinance in the past. This post does not restate a schedule.
The lower level is where the plan adds something
The dog question could not be answered on the field, so the design gives it a second location. The lower level holds the "park within a park," which pairs an off-leash area with a dog-free lawn. The city's one-line description does not say how the lawn divides between the two, so the final master plan will need to.
The lower level fits the guiding principles the council reaffirmed in September 2025. Those principles call for serving park visitors "with or without pets" and for capturing views of the Pacific. The upper level's ocean-view deck follows the second of those.
The council's earlier direction also asked the design team to look at relocating the historic Alvarado House to the site. It further asked for options on the Del Mar Community Building, which the City owns and the Del Mar Foundation manages under a use agreement. Those options were a modernized remodel or a replacement. The Sept. 22 summary lists a new two-story community building and does not mention the Alvarado House.
The site has served other purposes before. The Del Mar Farmers Market opened in 1986 on the old city hall parking lot, then moved to Shores Park while the new Civic Center was built. It has operated on the Civic Center's lower lot since 2018. The upper level of the current design includes an event plaza.
Where the routine sits in the meantime
Nothing on the ground changes until a final plan exists, so the beach and the Saturday market carry the current routine.
The beach dog rules changed on the day after Labor Day, when the off-season began. Under the city's dog beach rules, the current arrangement is as follows.
- North Beach, from 29th Street to the Solana Beach border, allows off-leash dogs under voice control.
- Between Powerhouse Park and 29th Street, dogs are leashed except from dawn to 8 a.m., with an off-leash window between 25th and 29th streets.
- From Powerhouse Park to 6th Street, dogs stay leashed year-round.
Leashes can be no longer than six feet, dogs need a license on the collar, and leash violations start at $285. Peak season returns June 16, when North Beach shrinks to dawn-to-8 a.m. off-leash time and dogs are barred from Powerhouse Park to 29th Street. The city says Del Mar has the only beach with off-leash hours in North County.
Sand work is also under way. The city reports that crews began building berms Sept. 17 near the Beach Safety Center and Powerhouse Park. The work moves northward during low-tide windows, with cones around work areas and an orange-vested spotter who can stop the loader operator.
The Del Mar Farmers Market runs year-round on Saturdays from noon to 4 p.m. on the Civic Center's lower parking lot, with free parking in the Civic Center garage. It was established by seven Del Mar residents: Marti Kaye, Ann Silber, Joyce Malone, Lorraine Rouse, Alice Goodkind, Nancy Weare and Sharon Fierabend. It now has nearly 40 vendors, live music and yoga on the ocean-view plaza upstairs. Its profits support the Del Mar Library, Del Mar Community Connections and the San Dieguito River Valley Conservancy, along with scholarships.
The dates on the calendar
The timeline includes the agreement's scheduled end date, no date for the final plan, and the upcoming election.
- The agreement was scheduled to run from Oct. 6, 2025, through Oct. 5, 2026, with a possible one-year extension by written amendment.
- No date is attached to a final master plan in the city's summary of the Sept. 22 meeting. That summary reports no vote, no cost figure and no construction timeline.
- Nov. 3 is the general election for two council seats. The candidates are Meghan O. Spieker, Jeff Sturgis, Terry Gaasterland and Jas Grewal.
If you'd like to talk through what a final Shores Park master plan means for your plans in Del Mar, White Label Home Collective offers a private, white-glove consultation.
This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.
