Keri Minnick’s life in downtown San Diego could have been ideal. She and her husband, Caleb, who owns a neighborhood record store, Normal Records, moved into East Village in February 2019. Their firstborn, Aaron, was born later that year. The young parents looked forward to taking their son on outings to nearby Fault Line Park.
They lived at Element Condominiums. It’s a few blocks from Fault Line Park, which shares a city block with two residential high rise towers called Pinnacle on the Park. One apartment tower has a red color scheme; the other is yellow – area residents call them “Ketchup and Mustard.”
Fault Line Park is owned by the City of San Diego but managed by Canadian-based condo builder Pinnacle International. Fault Line Park’s public-private partnership originally was touted as an ideal situation, including 24-hour security and frequent maintenance of “a first-class condition.”
Current East Village residents say that’s far from the reality – and the situation hasn’t improved since the park opened in August 2015.
When the Minnicks moved into East Village, Fault Line Park seemed to be a logical place for them to socialize. Keri could catch up with her friends and Aaron could play in the park playground. But Keri soon discovered the unseemly side of the park.
She says dog poop frequently litters the grassy areas outside the designated dog relief area. At night, the number of dim and broken lamp lights around the park create an unsafe environment. The 24-hour security residents were promised is spotty, at best.
Not far from the park, the family had a harrowing experience.
“Caleb was walking our son near Albertsons,” Keri says. “A junkie was nearby and had a suitcase that started rolling downhill and hit the stroller. The junkie got in Caleb’s face yelling and was even saying ‘I’m going to kill you!’ My husband did call the [police] non-emergency line to try to report it.”
He was told that yelling and threatening to kill someone is not a crime.
“This was the first day I decided to buy pepper spray,” Keri says. “Multiple bad encounters later, we didn’t walk around anymore in our own neighborhood. We’d get in the car and drive to Coronado to walk their streets and eat at their restaurants because that is where we felt safe.”
It got to the point that Keri wouldn’t take her kids to Fault Like Park at all – “Not even if my kids would be like, ‘Let’s stop by the park!’, which is a very normal thing for a family to do,” she says. “It’s not something we did because of [safety concerns].”
Residents of Pinnacle on the Park have had similar experiences. Jennifer Kong has lived in a Pinnacle tower for more than two years. She’s wary of crossing paths with unsavory characters while walking her dog.
“There were a couple instances when a homeless man came up to me and he was naked, asking for my clothes,” Kong says.
She says some park visitors aren’t disruptive, but that there have been instances when some people have bordered on dangerous.
Many of these encounters happen later in the evening.
“I have to pick the right time to walk my dogs,” Pinnacle resident Bishane Mateo says.
Mateo moved to Pinnace a few months ago. She walks her dogs three to four times a day, including in the evening after work, for 30 to 40 minutes at a time. She often feels unsafe. Mateo says during the time she’s lived at Pinnacle she’s never seen a security guard patrolling Fault Line Park.
Not everyone in the neighborhood has negative things to say about Fault Line Park.
Nearby shelter residents Merrilee S. and Vanne G. often visit, along with Merrilee’s dogs, Chula and Daisy. The two women met at the shelter last year. They say the park is a great escape.
“Just looking around at the scenery, the leaves and everything – I feel good here,” Vanne says. “I can relax, where at the [shelter], we can’t. [The dogs] come here, they can run and bark as much as they want.”
Fault Line Park and the 46-story Pinnacle on the Park towers are bordered by Fourteenth and Fifteenth streets, and J Street and Island Avenue. The park is named in recognition of the fact that it’s directly above a strand of the Rose Canyon Fault system.
Located at the corner of Fourteenth and Island is the popular Izola Bakery. The indoor-outdoor space has been in business here less than a year. Several other eateries have come and gone from the location since the park first opened.
Izola owner Jeffrey Brown believes Pinnacle is doing a good job of managing Fault Line Park in the broader context of the city’s homelessness crisis.
“I walk through these streets at all hours of the day and night, and I can tell you that this park is an oasis in the midst of an extreme crisis,” Brown says. “They have 24/7 security here. We definitely do our part to hold the space in a safe and secure manner for families and children. Anytime I call [Pinnacle security], if anybody breaks the city rules – drinking, smoking, camping – we’re able to get somebody out here literally in minutes to keep folks moving along.”
Brown believes that despite its challenges, the East Village community needs and cherishes Fault Line Park. Standing on the Izola patio, Brown pauses, recognizes two Serving Seniors ladies eating salads on a nearby park bench. He waves hello to them, and asks an employee to take them some fresh Izola bread.
For community members, visitors and Izola customers, Brown recognizes safety is paramount to exhibiting a good quality of life.
“When you have people drinking or smoking or camping, it has a chilling effect on parents wanting to bring their children to have a nice time,” Brown says. “They just don’t want to do it.”
Brown and his staff clean litter around the bakery’s perimeter every morning. Hazardous materials such as razors, needles and other drug paraphernalia have been found throughout the park, at times in the children’s playground area.
“We’re gloved – we carry around a cardboard box with us, and we pick it up and we put it into our trash,” Brown says. “We don’t do the whole park, but we try to do our part.”
Outside of Brown and his team’s efforts, Pinnacle security personnel are responsible for disposing of hazardous waste, among other duties.
Security personnel primarily stay in the lobby of Pinnacle’s apartment buildings, and are supposed to make their rounds through the park every 15 to 30 minutes. There is a one-hour period at night where the apartment’s two concierges take an hour-long break, according to Pinnacle staff.
During this period, both security guards on duty must cover the concierge positions, potentially preventing them from making their rounds around 7 p.m.
Cindy Cook has lived in East Village since 2020. She’s no stranger to safety concerns, especially at Fault Line Park, which she passes daily.
“One time, I was chased by some people, and I was hung out in the middle of the park,” Cook says. “I tried to get security to help me, but he looked at me and kept walking – pretending that I didn’t exist. I waited there for 40 minutes while the people were in a car, circling the block, screaming profanities at me. One of the guys in the car got out and peed in front of me.”
Cook routinely complains about safety issues at the park. In addition to getting chased, she’s found razors and foils – which she says are related to drug paraphernalia – in and around the Fault Line Park playground area. She’s submitted hundreds of Get It Done app requests to Clean & Safe, a maintenance team overseen by the Downtown San Diego Partnership.
She says she can’t get straight answers from Pinnacle staff or from the City of San Diego that address her concerns.
The San Diego Sun visited Fault Line Park (during the day and at night) and didn’t observe extreme safety concerns but did see evidence of park neglect as described by local residents.
At night, The Sun counted a total of four lamp lights that were out. Two additional lights that had been broken and removed have been out of order for months, or possibly years, according to one community member.
“That lamp post has had a cone in its place forever,” East Village resident Shordy Mulford says, gesturing to where one of the lights had been. “When things are broken they just don’t really seem to get fixed.”
Cook concurs.
“Areas that are well lit typically have less crime,” Cook says. “To this day, they have not fixed broken lights. Even though I got confirmation from Parks and Recreation – they even gave me a month. They were like, ‘Yeah, it’ll be done in August.’ That was August of 2023.”
Izola’s Brown says there are nine city street lights out in a one-block radius that he’s been working to get fixed. He reported the broken streetlights twice through the Get It Done app and to the mayor’s office through community representative Randy Reyes in December 2024.
“I’ve been in contact with Commander Ben Kelso from the SDPD who is trying to help me,” Brown says. “They are estimating a 355-day repair window to get those things fixed, and I’ve been working on it since June of 2024.”
Two mobile applications are used by community members to report issues in public spaces. Along with the DSDP’s Clean and Safe app, there is the city’s Get It Done app. Community members report better response times with the Clean and Safe app, and say Get It Done requests can go unanswered by the city.
The Sun tested both apps by reporting the four broken streetlights at Fault Line Park using the exact same data and descriptions. The Get It Done app cited a 300-day waiting period to fix the broken lamps. After a few days of processing, the Clean and Safe app referred the issue to the Get It Done app, also citing a 300-day waiting period.
Ineffective lines of communication seem to exist at the heart of the problem with this public-private partnership between the city and Pinnacle International.
Pinnacle is tasked with maintaining the park, but officials are ghost-like. Area residents can’t reach Pinnacle. Complaints made about the park to local elected officials, city departments and oversight committees don’t seem to reach Pinnacle.
After half a dozen unanswered calls and emails from The Sun, Pinnacle property manager Carlos Inzunza replied by email that he would “respectfully decline your invitation for an interview.”
Downtown residents Cook and Minnick say they’ve addressed their concerns at city council meetings, to no avail. Cook says a park cleanup was organized some time ago by city officials that raised her hopes, but it turned out to be a one-time event.
When residents complained the park didn’t have a proper dog run area, Pinnacle did respond: A rock garden was installed as a pet relief area. Almost unanimously, residents call the area unsanitary and unsightly.
District 3 City Councilmember Stephen Whitburn has heard complaints about Fault Line Park.
“Our office has been in communication with the property manager at Fault Line Park to address concerns previously raised by residents and business owners in and around the development,” a Whitburn representative wrote in an email.
The statement continues: “Additionally, our office continues to work with Pinnacle, the Parks and Recreation Department, and the Mayor’s office to address concerns as they are brought to our attention. As a public-private partnership, Fault Line Park is a valuable collaborative effort, and we will continue to work closely with Pinnacle to ensure its safety and proper maintenance.”
The San Diego Parks and Recreation Department did not respond to messages from The Sun.
An advisory committee called the Downtown Community Planning Council (DCPC) has heard a multitude of complaints from residents about Fault Line Park.
A letter from DCPC Executive Chairperson Manny Rodriguez notes “inconsistent maintenance,” “insufficient enforcement of park rules and regulations,” “misuse of park facilities” and “lack of clear communication channels between residents, property managers, and city enforcement.”
Rodriguez writes that a solution that could potentially amend the relationship between residents and Pinnacle International is an initiative on the city’s behalf to “review and audit the maintenance agreements for all privately maintained public parks in downtown to ensure compliance with established standards.”
The problem has been ongoing for a decade. Just after the park opened, the issue was notably tackled in the press, twice, in articles published by inewsource and Voice of San Diego that delved into complaints of a public bathroom in the park that was constantly locked.
The same problems are still being hashed over. Some residents have suggested installing a fence surrounding the block. Others recommend holding monthly park cleanups.
Several viable solutions have been voiced, but none address the core issue of managerial neglect spawned by inconsistent or incompetent communication with the city.
The DCPC’s proposed solution – an audit requested through the city for complaints, potentially including impropriety – seems reasonable.
By auditing Pinnacle International’s management practices at Fault Line Park, the DCPC hopes to force the city to take action – to take the necessary steps to make Fault Line Park safer…like San Diego Children’s Park.
Located in downtown’s Marina District, near the San Diego Convention Center, Children’s Park was once similarly blighted but has recently been renovated. It no longer has the problems with cleanliness, safety or managerial neglect that exist at Fault Line Park.
No dog poop litters the ground in or around a well-maintained dog-relief area at Children’s Park. It’s well-lit, too.
Children’s Park also has 24-hour security. But rather than being occasionally patrolled, security guards are stationed there all day. Though the park officially closes at 10 p.m., its proximity to a trolley stop makes it a prime location for people to visit at all hours. According to a Children’s Park guard, the constant presence of security deters loitering.
It’s unclear if movement toward an audit is in process, but obvious problems exist in East Village that need to be addressed.
If a solution for Fault Line Park is forthcoming, it will arrive too late for the Minnick family. Safety concerns caused them to move out of downtown in 2023. SDSun
Clarification: This story was edited on March 6 to fully reflect Jeffrey Brown’s attempts to reach out for assistance on broken streetlights.
