Sierra Club
San Francisco Bay Chapter
Hon. Mayor Shirley Dean and Members
of the Berkeley City Council
2180 Milvia Street
Berkeley, CA
May 1, 2001
Dear Mayor Dean City Councilmembers:
This letter is in regard to the remaining privately held lands on the
waterfront that are governed by Meaure Q. In the late 1990's T'he State
and East Bay Regional Park District purchases most of Sante Fe's aka
Catellus' property on the waterfront that was subject to Measure Q. A
small portion of the most northerly portion of the Berkeley lands in the
area known as the North Basin Strip were not purchased. Catellus sold
that small area to the current owner of Golden Gate Fields race track.
Measure Q provided for a maximum of 565,000 square feet of
development on all of Santa Fe's waterfront holdings in Berkeley.
When the State and Park District bought most of that property, they
bought the property based on the value of the property with those
development rights. Hence, the State bought a sizable proportion of
that 565,000 square feet of development rights. It is estimated that the
State and Park District purchased around 80% of Santa Fe's waterfront
property subject to Measure Q. That means that they bought 80% of
the development rights or around 452,000 square feet of the
development rights, leaving the remaining property with a value based
on the remaining 110,000 square feet of development nghts. These
numbers are perforce approximate and would need to be more closely
calculated for a more precise number. For purposes of this letter, I will
use the figure 110,000 square feet.
It is has come to the Sierra Club's attention that there are
statements emanating from the city staff that the current property
owner holds rights to 561,000 square feet of development on the
remaining portion of the North Basin Strip that was not sold to the
public. This would be a legally untenable position and a subversion of
voter approved Measure Q, which was dubbed, as you are well aware,
"The Sierra Club Plan" for the Berkeley waterfront. Therefore the Club
requests that the City clarify its position on what rights to development
the current property owner has over that small portion of the former
Santa Fe lands that were not put into public ownership.
It goes without saying that if the City's position is that the current
owner holds rights to 565,000 square feat of development, the Club
wiIl need to evaluate what steps it will need to take to ensure that the
voter's will is not subverted and the millions of taxpayers dollars that
were spent to purchase Santa Fe's extensive waterfront holdings were
not a gift of public funds. Please be aware that the staff of the East
Bay Regional Park District have confirmed for the Club that the State
and Park District's appraisal for the Santa Fe lands included the
proportionate share of those development rights in determining the
value of the lands they purchased.
If the City is taking the position that 565,000 square feet of
development can be put onto the small Portion that was not publicly
bought, the Club requests that the City state in writing the legal and
economic basis for that position.
Sincerely yours,
Norman La Force
Chair, East Bay Public Lands Committee &
Chair, Chapter Legal Committee
cc:
State Parks
East Bay Regional Park District
Golden Gate Audubon Society
Save San Francisco Bay Association
Citizens for the Eastshore State Park