Approve AB 2646 To Restore SF’s Bay Shoreline
Dear Chair Caballero:
The San Francisco waterfront is an important public trust asset of the people of California. 7.5 miles – representing most of the City’s bay waterfront – are under the jurisdiction of the San Francisco Port Commission pursuant to the Burton Act.
Since the demolition of the Embarcadero freeway, the City has embarked on a planning process to reconnect with its Bay waterfront. Residents and visitors stroll along the new Embarcadero roadway along portions of the Bay Trail from the Bay Bridge to the historic Ferry Building and onward to Fisherman’s Wharf.
Unfortunately, major portions of the San Francisco waterfront are blighted by dangerous conditions, crumbling facilities and environment contamination from historic industrial activities. “Ghost” piles from former pile-supported structures dot the shoreline. Neighborhoods that were home to heavy industrial activities for much of the last century such as Mission Bay, Potrero, Dogpatch, Bayview and Hunters Point remain cut off from the Bay, even as the City rezones some of these areas to promote infill mixed use development.
The San Francisco League of Conservation Voters strongly supports the creation of major new waterfront open spaces and an extension of the Bay Trail through the Port’s southern waterfront. However, the costs of eliminating blight along the waterfront far exceed the Port’s revenues. AB 2646 will create an important new financing vehicle to pay for parks, access to the Bay, environmental remediation and removal of bay fill.
We strongly encourage you to approve AB 2646 to restore San Francisco’s Bay shoreline. Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
Amandeep Jawa, President
San Francisco League of Conservation Voters