While Richmond Officials and out of town developers dream of dredging and paving Wildcat Marsh for a future container port, Oakland plans to use its newly acquired waterfront with deepwater access for auto malls, hotels, a movie studio, entertainment-themed attractions, retail space and a hotel. I don’t know which City gets the prize for ultimate stupidity. Maybe we can split it and award two prizes for this one.

There is a document called the San Francisco Bay Plan that you can access at http://www.bcdc.ca.gov/pdf/planning/plans/bayplan/bayplan.pdf. The San Francisco Bay Plan is mandated by the McAteer-Petris Act. One of its guiding principles is to reserve existing developed deep water access to San Francisco Bay for port purposes so that undeveloped areas, some with valuable habitat, will not have to be filled and dredged in the future.

The San Francisco Bay Plan states:

d. There are enough shoreline sites to accommodate currently projected cargo growth to the year 2020, with a minimum of Bay filling. However, to do so, new terminals must be built at the most suitable sites. Bay fill for new terminals must be minimized to conform to the provisions of the McAteer-Petris Act, the efficiency of existing and new terminals must continue to increase, and all of the available sites must be reserved for terminals. This will require careful coordination of port development with other shoreline uses, local government protection of sufficient port lands to accommodate port-related uses and terminal back land expansions, redevelopment of some existing terminals and industry for new terminals, and deepening channels where it would increase the efficiency of existing terminals.

3. Port priority use areas should be protected for marine terminals and directly-related ancillary activities such as container freight stations, transit sheds and other temporary storage, ship repairing, support transportation uses including trucking and railroad yards, freight forwarders, government offices related to the port activity, chandlers, and marine services. Other uses, especially public access and public and commercial recreational development, should also be permissible uses provided they do not significantly impair the efficient utilization of the port area.

Now comes Oakland, the proud new recipient of 364 free acres of Oakland Army Base, all designated Port Priority in the San Francisco Bay Plan (Plan map 5, Central Bay). Is Oakland ecstatic that it can rake in untold millions of dollars by using all 364 acres to fill the looming West Coast port shortage that is the basis of the proposed Richmond project? Not exactly.  According to the Contra Costa Times, the port will only get half, while Oakland’s Redevelopment Agency salivates over perhaps more profitable and diversified ventures:

The old base will be split between the port and the redevelopment agency. The port plans to use its new acreage -- on the southern half of the base -- to expand cargo storage and increase its place as one of the nation's busiest ports. City officials, on the other hand, are aiming to build a new commercial and retail center for Oakland on the northern half of the base that will be the first thing drivers see as they come to the East Bay.

Although the redevelopment agency and other city officials are still months away from completing a master plan for their 170 acres of the base, the property's location and size has already sparked some discussion with potential developers.

One of those interested is the Fulton Project Development Group, a group headed by the Wayans brothers, best known for their screen and television comedies such as "In Living Color" and "I'm Gonna Git You Sucka." The proposed facility would include a movie studio, entertainment-themed attractions, retail space and a hotel. Greenwood said the agency is still in a negotiation period with Fulton to make the 70-acre project a reality.

The city also is in negotiations with five auto dealerships to form a new 28-acre auto mall on the old base. Such an area would allow the dealerships to relocate to the base from the city's Broadway Auto Row just outside of downtown, where rising land costs and lack of space could soon force some dealerships out. Of the more than 20 dealerships on Auto Row, 13 have leases that expire by 2009.

I guess Oakland officials, like those in Richmond, either didn’t consult the Bay Plan, or they dismissed it as merely a paper obstacle. Meanwhile in Richmond, we have Wildcat Marsh, most of which is designated on the Bay Plan as “tidal marsh,” with the northerly edge along the landfill designated “waterfront beach/park,” and the southerly edge in the Chevron refinery designated “water related industry.” Read what the Bay Plan says under the heading “Findings and Policies Concerning Tidal Marshes and Tidal Flats Around the Bay.”

With limited undeveloped waterfront land remaining, why would anyone think it’s a good idea to spend billions tearing up a marsh in Richmond for a container port while turning an existing and probably polluted shipping facility on the Oakland waterfront into auto malls and “entertainment themed attractions?”  To go down this road, you would have to be mentally deficient, or worse. Maybe Richmond should consider just the 28-acre auto mall at Wildcat Marsh and save the cost of dredging for a new port.

Here’s another question. If ports are so profitable, why is Oakland looking at other ventures when handed a piece of prime waterfront property with deep water access for free? This is unbelievable.

Posted on Sat, Aug. 26, 2006
Land transfer may lead to a face-lift for East Bay

By Chris Metinko
CONTRA COSTA TIMES

While it might never match the views drivers get from the upper deck of the Bay Bridge heading into San Francisco, the entrance to the East Bay might soon be made up of more than just port cranes.

Earlier this month, the Port of Oakland and the city's redevelopment agency officially became the owners of approximately 364 acres of the old Oakland Army Base, which was closed in 1999. The long-awaited land transfer means both the port and the redevelopment agency can move forward with plans to reinvigorate the flatlands just southeast of the Bay Bridge.

"This is a great opportunity to change the economic landscape and perception of Oakland," said Alex Greenwood, the redevelopment agency's urban economic coordinator. "This is a large amount of open space right in the geographic center of the Bay Area. We see this as the new gateway to the East Bay."

The old base will be split between the port and the redevelopment agency. The port plans to use its new acreage -- on the southern half of the base -- to expand cargo storage and increase its place as one of the nation's busiest ports. City officials, on the other hand, are aiming to build a new commercial and retail center for Oakland on the northern half of the base that will be the first thing drivers see as they come to the East Bay.

Although the redevelopment agency and other city officials are still months away from completing a master plan for their 170 acres of the base, the property's location and size has already sparked some discussion with potential developers.

One of those interested is the Fulton Project Development Group, a group headed by the Wayans brothers, best known for their screen and television comedies such as "In Living Color" and "I'm Gonna Git You Sucka." The proposed facility would include a movie studio, entertainment-themed attractions, retail space and a hotel. Greenwood said the agency is still in a negotiation period with Fulton to make the 70-acre project a reality.

The city also is in negotiations with five auto dealerships to form a new 28-acre auto mall on the old base. Such an area would allow the dealerships to relocate to the base from the city's Broadway Auto Row just outside of downtown, where rising land costs and lack of space could soon force some dealerships out. Of the more than 20 dealerships on Auto Row, 13 have leases that expire by 2009.

Although a park and more commercial development also might be in the cards for the remaining land on the base, housing currently is not. Greenwood said the city's environmental impact report on the property did not look at residential uses for the base. That means any plan for new homes would necessitate a new environmental study to be done.

For now, it appears the city will focus mainly on creating new business opportunities on the base that will bring in new jobs.

"This has a chance to have a significant impact on the economy here," Greenwood said. "This could generate a large number of jobs, and not just any jobs, but high-quality, well-paying jobs."

Although new jobs would be welcome in the community, the conversion of the old army base does bring concerns, said Steve Lowe, vice president of the West Oakland Commerce Association.

Lowe worries that some of the businesses that were allowed to operate on the old base -- many port-related -- will be forced out now that the transformation is happening. "I think this is a crisis," said Lowe, who is hoping to meet with city and port officials to discuss the association's concerns. "We're losing jobs in West Oakland."

Lowe said while some of the businesses -- such as port container repair companies -- can relocate, making them move away from the port brings more truck traffic and pollution to West Oakland. The neighborhood already has bad pollution and asthma rates because of its location close to freeways, the port and other light industrial businesses in the area, Lowe said.

Greenwood said the city is trying to combat that traffic and pollution problem by allocating at least 15 acres of the base for a truck parking lot. The lot would provide overnight parking for the truck drivers and limit big rig commutes through nearby neighborhoods.

The port has designs to use its new property to house cargo, and will build a rail facility on the site to transfer shipments more quickly around the port -- again cutting down on truck traffic.

The rail project -- which is expected to be completed by 2009 -- and other site development will create an estimated $50 million worth of construction jobs.

Wilson Lacy, director of maritime operations at the port, said getting the property is an important step for the port to remain the fourth busiest container port in the country. He added the deal will help the port remain competitive in the international trade, allowing it to be a first call port -- a port where larger ships drop off goods to be transferred not just within the region but across the country.

"In order for us to receive those vessels," Lacy said, "we needed the land at the Army base."

Reach Chris Metinko at 510-763-5418 or cmetinko@cctimes.com.