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May 12, 2025 Design Review Board Meeting
May 12 @ 5:00 pm - 6:30 pm
This Bay Conservation and Development Commission (BCDC) Design Review Board meeting will be conducted in a hybrid format in accordance with Gov. Code 11123.5. To maximize public safety while maintaining transparency and public access, members of the public can choose to participate either virtually via Zoom, by phone, or in person at the location listed below. Physical attendance at the site listed below requires that all individuals adhere to the site’s health guidelines including, if required, wearing masks, health screening, and social distancing.
Metro Center
375 Beale Street, Yerba Buena Room
San Francisco, 415-352-3600
If you have issues joining the meeting using the link, please enter the Meeting ID and Password listed below into the ZOOM app to join the meeting.
Join the meeting via ZOOM
https://bcdc-ca-gov.zoom.us/j/87161336217?pwd=hMjJEZ5fypYyuCuuazltKhHMurePy9.1
See information on public participation
Teleconference numbers
1 (866) 590-5055 Toll-free
1 (816) 423 4282 US Toll
Conference Code 374334
Passcode
641630
If you call in by telephone:
Press *6 to unmute or mute yourself
Press *9 to raise your hand or lower your hand to speak
Agenda
- Call to Order and Meeting Procedure Review
- Approval of Draft Review Summary for the March 10, 2025 DRB Meeting
- BCDC Staff Updates
- Public Comment for items not on the agenda
- Berkeley Waterfront and Ferry Pier, City of Berkeley, Alameda County; Briefing
The Design Review Board will hold a pre-application briefing of the Berkeley Waterfront and Ferry Pier project, a proposed electric ferry service located at the Berkeley Marina, in the City of Berkeley, Alameda County. The project proposes demolition of the closed fishing pier and the construction of a new 1,080-foot-long public pier with pedestrian access and a ferry terminal, connected to a 400-foot-long breakwater. The proposal also includes improvements to the surrounding Berkeley Waterfront, including a public plaza, improved site circulation, a Bay Trail extension, parking lot renovations, and new landscaping.
(Alyssa Plese) [415/352-3626; alyssa.plese@bcdc.ca.gov]
Exhibits - Adjournment
Recording & Transcript
Transcript
Yerba Buena SX80: Recording in the conference.
Yerba Buena SX80: Okay.
Yerba Buena SX80: thank you for joining us tonight for the Bcdc Design Review Board meeting. I’d like to remind the Board members to please speak directly into the microphone in front of you and have it on only when you want to speak. And please ensure that your video on your laptop is always on, but your audio is disabled.
Yerba Buena SX80: Good evening, everyone. My name is Jacinta Mccann. I’m the chair of the Bcdc’s Design Review Board, and I’m located here at the Metro Center in San Francisco.
Yerba Buena SX80: Our 1st order of business is to call the Roll Board members. Can you unmute yourselves to respond, and then mute yourselves again after responding. Staff, please call the roll chair. Mccann. Present vice chair, string, present board, member Pataglio, present Board, Member Hall.
Yerba Buena SX80: present Bcdc. Staff attending this meeting tonight are myself, Ashley Tomerlin. Alyssa, please, and Catherine Pan.
Yerba Buena SX80: Okay, thanks, Ashley. We have a quorum presence. So we’re duly constituted to conduct business.
Yerba Buena SX80: I’ll start by sharing some instructions on how we can best participate in this meeting, so that it runs as smoothly as possible
Yerba Buena SX80: for everyone online. And in the meeting room, and it’s great to see a whole lot of people in the meeting room so welcome. Please make sure you have your microphones or phones muted to avoid background noise for board members. If you have a webcam, please make sure that it’s on, so everyone can see you for members of the public. If you would like to speak during a public comment period, you will need to do so in one of 3 ways. First, st if you’re here with us in person. We will ask you to form a line near the podium. If you wish to make a public comment.
Yerba Buena SX80: Speaker, cards are available at the door, and you will be asked to come up to the podium one at a time.
Yerba Buena SX80: After all individuals who are present make their comments. We shall then call on those participants who are attending remotely
Yerba Buena SX80: the second way, if you’re attending on the Zoom Platform, please raise your virtual hand in zoom, please click the hand at the bottom of the screen and the hand should turn blue when it’s raised.
Yerba Buena SX80: Finally, if you’re joining our meeting via phone, you must press. Star 9 on your keypad, to raise or lower your hand, or to make a comment and star 6 to mute or unmute your phone.
Yerba Buena SX80: We will call on individuals who’ve raised their hands in the order that they are raised.
Yerba Buena SX80: Please keep your comments respectful and focused. We are here to listen to everyone who wishes to address us, but everyone has the responsibility to act in a civil manner.
Yerba Buena SX80: We will not tolerate hate, speech threats made directly or indirectly, and or abusive language.
Yerba Buena SX80: We will mute anyone who fails to follow these guidelines, or who exceeds the established time limits without permission
Yerba Buena SX80: for public comments. If you are attending online. Please note that we will only hear your voice. Your video will not be enabled.
Yerba Buena SX80: If you’re attending the meeting on the Zoom Platform. We recommend using the gallery view which is an option in view settings in order to see all the panelists audio, for in person panelists is recorded through the rooms audio system and is not synced to the individual panelists. Videos.
Yerba Buena SX80: If you would like to add your contact information to the interested parties, list to be notified of future meetings
Yerba Buena SX80: concerning the project we’re going to hear tonight.
Yerba Buena SX80: Please call or email Ashley Tomlin, whose contact information is on the screen or is found on the Bcdc’s website.
Yerba Buena SX80: Now, board members, we’ve been furnished draft meeting summaries for our March 10, th 2025 meeting. Just want to check if there are comments or corrections to the board minutes, or to the meeting summary, I should say, from March 10, th and just a reminder. The March 10th
Yerba Buena SX80: Board meeting Summary was the Brooklyn Basin Channel Park, Second Review meetings, although it was the new design for the Park.
Yerba Buena SX80: 1st time we’d seen that, so did anyone have any comments on the on the meeting notes.
Yerba Buena SX80: Okay, Bob, any comments on the
Yerba Buena SX80: I wasn’t. I wasn’t at the meeting, so I don’t have any comments.
Yerba Buena SX80: Gary, any comments.
Yerba Buena SX80: Yeah, I I wrote in a little note, Ashley. I think. It was really about
Yerba Buena SX80: 2 items things you’ve heard before that I’ve commented on. And I understand they’re sort of outside our purview. So I’m really clear on that. And the 1st one was about condominiums. On, you know, sites that are probably a risk more at risk of sea level rise than most than many other sites. So when you see a site that has, you know, specific issues. And when
Yerba Buena SX80: you know, townhouses is going to be an important component of that project, it always kind of raises eyebrows above among the group. But you know, we don’t really can’t really do anything about it. And that was a real driver of the Brooklyn Basin project. I think they want to do all these great waterfront improvements, and the only way they can get it done is by advancing these townhouses. So
Yerba Buena SX80: kind of interesting, because when I 1st joined the board. It’s been more than 10 years, I mean, it was much more
Yerba Buena SX80: architecture, urban design focused, you know, than it is right now. So we see a lot of our projects. There’s a landscape architect that is presenting the project and talking about the waterfront, the pathways, the furnishings, and all that, but the issues of urban design and planning and architecture are not really front and center, like they used to be, and I know we can’t do anything about it legally, but it just seems like there’s no one in a better position than we are to see the issue. So you know, I just wanted to
Yerba Buena SX80: put that on the record and see where we go from here on that on that issue. And the second was is that
Yerba Buena SX80: the site that was adjacent to Brooklyn Basin.
Yerba Buena SX80: had a grade change issue. That was, you know, quite extreme that there was development right up to the property line, which caused a very awkward transition between the 2 properties, and so we were in a position of approving the Brooklyn Basin, knowing that somewhere down the road there’s going to be a very awkward circumstance, and we didn’t get a very satisfactory reply on that, and I think that the proponent could
Yerba Buena SX80: logically say, This is it’s not our problem. It’s over the property line. But you know, our goal is to coordinate those things. So I guess that was kind of a question, and maybe just put it out there for comment. Is that really the end of the story on
Yerba Buena SX80: those 2 parcels which I won’t get into the details, but it was a probably one of the more awkward adjacencies that I’ve seen since being on the board.
Yerba Buena SX80: There’s a big grade change and no property left to transition the grade change. Yeah. And I think, Gary, just to speak to the second issue.
Yerba Buena SX80: we did discuss the interface between the townhomes and that property line.
Yerba Buena SX80: And I think we did point out the awkward nature of that.
Yerba Buena SX80: it! I don’t think it’s captured, perhaps as strongly in the notes as as it could be, so
Yerba Buena SX80: you know, I think it might be worth
Yerba Buena SX80: amending the notes. I don’t know if you’ve got any language you would like to add for that.
Yerba Buena SX80: Well, I I think all we can really do is note that it’s an awkward adjacency, and that if the adjacent property. If there’s really, if that train has left the station, then it should be accommodated on the Brooklyn Basin side in some way. You know that the side plan should be rearranged to to have a
Yerba Buena SX80: a transition? Great transition.
Yerba Buena SX80: Ashley, do you think you can amend the notes to incorporate that. Yes, great, I think, on the 1st point.
Yerba Buena SX80: Gary, you know you have been leading the
Yerba Buena SX80: charge, if you like, on on this issue for some years now. And and you know this is not
Yerba Buena SX80: the core purview of our land use is not the core purview of our of our Design Review board. However,
Yerba Buena SX80: you know, we do have the possibility, if we would like to to
Yerba Buena SX80: have a briefing, maybe potentially, to the Commission on this issue to help them
Yerba Buena SX80: be appraised of the concern, even though it is not a policy area that Bcdc has jurisdiction over. So I think that’s something that we can talk further about, not in this meeting, but continue to think about ways to keep that question of.
Yerba Buena SX80: you know, is it responsible to build housing in these vulnerable areas.
Yerba Buena SX80: Given what we know about sea level rise and and the nature of insurance and the vulnerabilities potentially of the homeowners who would buy into these projects.
Yerba Buena SX80: But I would be interested in that discussion, even though I wasn’t at the last meeting. But I would be interested in that. Yeah, yeah, I mean, it’s it’s it’s really, I think, the critical
Yerba Buena SX80: question there is. You know, how? How can our Advisory Board help
Yerba Buena SX80: raise this concern, even though it is not a policy
Yerba Buena SX80: core. It’s not a policy area that Bcdc has primary jurisdiction over. It’s, you know, the cities and
Yerba Buena SX80: the State to some degree. So let’s continue that dialogue outside this meeting.
Yerba Buena SX80: Is that okay? Gary, yes, sounds good. Okay. And you know that key issue, as you know, is that if a if a developer is doing biotech or life science, and it’s got a 30 year lifespan that’s very different than a homeowner who wants to own this for 50 to 100 years or more, and they don’t have homeowners. Associations don’t have the ability to take on the mitigations that maybe a developer would.
Yerba Buena SX80: Okay. So I I thank you for that feedback. I think, with the
Yerba Buena SX80: amendment that we just discussed. I’d appreciate a motion and a second. It was really only you and me there, so would you like to? Yes, I will make a motion, and I’ll second, and we’ll unanimously adopt these notes, so let’s move ahead.
Yerba Buena SX80: But look before we do, I I
Yerba Buena SX80: I’ve said it before, but the quality of these meeting notes is really high. It is the it’s, you know, over the last 12 years since I’ve been on the board. This is, really these excellent notes and capture
Yerba Buena SX80: what we cover at the meeting really? Well and concisely so. Thank you for the hard work on that.
Yerba Buena SX80: Okay, stop updates.
Yerba Buena SX80: Thank you. Chair Mccann. First, st I’d like to thank everyone who attended our Mission Bay public access walking tour in April.
Yerba Buena SX80: I enjoyed the observations and discussion on lessons learned from the 3 projects the Chair and I have been conspiring to see if we can set up another site, visit maybe to the Northern waterfront later this year. So stay tuned. Our next project review meeting is scheduled for June 9, th and will be the follow up review of the Brooklyn Basin Channel Park Project
Yerba Buena SX80: for the minutes that you or the meeting summary that you just reviewed. And it does look like it will be a busy summer for the Drb. With reviews tentatively scheduled for July 14, th August 11th and September 8, th
Yerba Buena SX80: the Berkeley Water Transportation Pier Ferry project will come back for review
Yerba Buena SX80: as well as tentatively Alameda Shipways, and possibly the Richmond Marina Point project returning.
Yerba Buena SX80: That, concludes the Bcdc staff update. I’ll pause here to answer any questions from the board.
Yerba Buena SX80: I don’t have any questions. Anyone else.
Yerba Buena SX80: Okay, good. Thanks for that. Update, Ashley.
Yerba Buena SX80: We’ll move to public comment for items that are not on tonight’s agenda. So
Yerba Buena SX80: there’ll be public comment for the items on the agenda coming up. But
Yerba Buena SX80: if anyone in in the room would like to or online would like to make a public comment about something that is not on the agenda. Please go ahead and raise hands or
Yerba Buena SX80: stand up.
Yerba Buena SX80: Okay, hearing nothing, we will move on from that. So
Yerba Buena SX80: we will start now with the project that we’ll be hearing about tonight.
Yerba Buena SX80: It’s a briefing on the Berkeley waterfront and Ferry Pier project, and for those who are online and in the room. This is, I think, A. A.
Yerba Buena SX80: It’s quite exciting actually to be able to listen to a project before it has been advanced into detailed design. We often see projects when they’re very close to construction. And
Yerba Buena SX80: and it’s challenging. When you see a project that’s that far down the design process to weigh in and and suggest enhancements. So very glad that you’ve come to see us tonight.
Yerba Buena SX80: We’re going to have. We’ll follow the this order now on the project. So the Bcdc. Staff will make a overview present presentation. We’ll have board clarifying questions to Staff. We’ll then have the project team, presentation and board clarifying questions to the project team.
Yerba Buena SX80: Then we’ll have public comment, and then the Board will provide some advice for information to include with the project review
Yerba Buena SX80: so as a reminder to the board as well, because we’re more often in a different mindset. Tonight’s item is an informational item.
Yerba Buena SX80: And so as we listen to the presentations, the staff have requested that we think about the key questions or the information to include when the project returns to the Drb. Later this summer for a project review. So keep that in mind. And with that the Bcdc. Permit analyst Alyssa is going to introduce the project. So I’ll hand to you, Alyssa, to do that. Thank you.
Yerba Buena SX80: Thank you. Chair Mccann, and good evening Board members.
Yerba Buena SX80: I don’t actually have a presentation for you tonight. Given the nature of the briefing. We’re gonna leave that to the project applicants.
Yerba Buena SX80: but I’d just like to briefly introduce the pure ferry project which is proposed at the Berkeley waterfront in the city of Berkeley, Alameda County.
Yerba Buena SX80: the project would create a new 0. Emissions, electric ferry service between Berkeley, San Francisco, and larkspur and construct a new public pier and ferry terminal to replace the existing fishing pier.
Yerba Buena SX80: as well as implement a range of waterfront and transportation improvements to the area.
Yerba Buena SX80: So the purpose of this briefing is, as I said, to introduce the project concept and the broader Berkeley Waterfront context in advance of the project’s 1st formal review.
Yerba Buena SX80: and during this presentation we request that the Board members consider the types of information, design elements, or contextual materials that would facilitate your thorough and constructive review in the future.
Yerba Buena SX80: Staff also welcomes input on how to structure future presentations, to clearly communicate information and support meaningful feedback.
Yerba Buena SX80: But I would like to know before we begin that the Bcd DC. Jurisdiction mapping that’s presented in the project is not correctly represented. And so we ask that you please disregard
Yerba Buena SX80: the jurisdiction boundaries illustrated throughout the presentation just because of some historic bay fill
Yerba Buena SX80: issues. And now I’ll introduce the project team to tell you more about the proposal presenting today. We have Liza Mcnulty from the city of Berkeley and Liz Allen from Wra consulting.
Yerba Buena SX80: Okay, so just a clarification on that. So to disregard when you ask us to disregard the Bcdc jurisdiction lines.
Yerba Buena SX80: Can you tell me or tell us where they are? Actually yeah. And we’ll see you’ll see on the. It will be more clear when we look at the
Yerba Buena SX80: the present. The maps themselves. Okay. So somebody shown accurately on an exhibit somewhere in the presentation. What was that? It is shown accurately on one of the exhibits?
Yerba Buena SX80: No, no, okay. But maybe someone could just describe it. I can point that out explicitly. When we get there. Okay, it’ll become clear when you see the match. So thank you very much. Okay, excellent.
Yerba Buena SX80: Any other questions before we proceed. Thank you.
Yerba Buena SX80: Thank you.
Yerba Buena SX80: My name is Liza Mcnulty. I am the capital improvement program manager with the city of Berkeley Parks recreation and Waterfront department, and I am the project manager for the Berkeley Water Transportation Pier and Ferry Project. We’re really, really excited to be here and present to you today. So, as has been mentioned. This is a briefing.
Yerba Buena SX80: And so that’s really reflective of where we are on the project. We’ve essentially just finished updating our conceptual design and are starting our 30% detailed design. So the level of exhibits and renderings that you’ll see today are probably not what you’re used to seeing, because we’re not there yet, but we thought, given the scope of this project, that it was really important to get
Yerba Buena SX80: in front of you as soon as possible, not only to get your high level feedback today, but also to give us feedback for how to organize this project for future more detailed presentations. So our goal today is to orient you to the Berkeley waterfront all of our existing infrastructure and facilities there, and give you an overview of the project components
Yerba Buena SX80: as well as a brief history of the area.
Yerba Buena SX80: So, as I mentioned, I’m Liza with the city of Berkeley. My colleague Roger is here as well. Our critical partners on this project are Weda, the water Emergency transportation authority, and we have some folks from Weda joining us on the Zoom call
Yerba Buena SX80: Rincon is our environmental consultants. We have a few folks from Rincon here, and they are the lead for our Ceqa. And Nepa process and documents, as well as our biological resources. Wra working under Rincon is our permitting lead, and Liz Allen, who is a senior permitting specialist with Wra, will be helping with the presentation today.
Yerba Buena SX80: Our design lead is Coe. I did not try to put all of Koey’s dozen sub consultants on here. They range from landscape architects to naval architects and everything in between.
Yerba Buena SX80: and then we have Kittleson transportation engineers. Kittleson is actually the 1st of all of these consultants that the city brought onto the team, because we know that one of the pillars of success, for this project is developing parking and transportation demand management strategies. And we’ll talk a little bit more about that tonight.
Yerba Buena SX80: Okay, so just to orient ourselves. With where we are in the world. Obviously, we’re all familiar with the San Francisco Bay, and you can see the city of Berkeley waterfront with that star on the slide there. It’s the westernmost limit of the city of Berkeley that extends into the bay.
Yerba Buena SX80: Oh, sorry.
Yerba Buena SX80: Okay? So this is now zooming into the southern half of the Berkeley waterfront. And let’s start with that question about the Bcdc jurisdictional mapping here. So what’s shown on this slide that blue light blue shading is the sort of typical 100 foot offset.
Yerba Buena SX80: In reality the exact timing and history of fill in this area is quite complex. And so the city is actively working with Bcdc staff to finalize this jurisdictional limit, and specifically in the vicinity of the Southern Peninsula. We expect that line to change and fill in much of that peninsula. I don’t believe there’s any other changes expected
Yerba Buena SX80: elsewhere on the map. That’s the primary one that we’re working with Bcdc. Staff and historical imagery to figure out exact dates of when various fill events occurred.
Yerba Buena SX80: What I want to point out on this slide. We’ll come back to this slide and dig into some of the existing facilities here, but the project area outlined in yellow, you see, extends off of the slide to the left and the right, and so I just want to touch on that very quickly. On the bottom
Yerba Buena SX80: corner of the slide you see the zoomed out area that shows that that full extent. What’s happening off the left end of the slide or the western limit.
Yerba Buena SX80: Oh.
Yerba Buena SX80: I’ll keep talking while you work on this
Yerba Buena SX80: off of that left hand side. The western limit is continuation of dredging, and that is essentially dredging a channel to allow for operation of the Weda vessel. And what’s happening on the right side as we move off the slide and go up easterly along University Avenue is continuation of trenching work for underground utilities. And so, for the most part, on this presentation, we’ll be focused on this scale. But I wanted to touch on what’s happening outside of this image.
Yerba Buena SX80: So speaking of complicated history, the story of the Berkeley Pier begins almost a hundred years ago.
Yerba Buena SX80: when the pier was originally constructed by the Golden Gate Ferry Company to provide vehicular ferry service to San Francisco, so cars would drive out to the end of the pier, drive onto a ferry, which would then take them over to San Francisco. This is how the pier operated for about 10 years. In 1937 the Bay bridge opened, and the need to shuttle cars via Ferry to San Francisco no longer existed.
Yerba Buena SX80: In the early 19 sixties. The 1st 3,000 feet of the Berkeley Pier was restored and reopened to public access. And that’s the Berkeley Pier that we all think of today. When we think of the Berkeley Pier.
Yerba Buena SX80: it existed as just public access for pedestrians, joggers fishing for about 50 years, until in 2015 the pier was closed, due to structural deterioration at that point at 90 years old.
Yerba Buena SX80: In 2019 the city of Berkeley and Wida entered into a memorandum of understanding to study the feasibility of replacing the now closed Berkeley Pier with a new pier structure that could provide not only restored recreation access, but also a terminal for a new ferry service connecting Berkeley to downtown San Francisco.
Yerba Buena SX80: This has always been envisioned, and continues to be envisioned as an electric only ferry terminal.
Yerba Buena SX80: After about 2 years of feasibility, study, including a public process, the preferred alternative was presented to the city of Berkeley City Council and the Wida Board in 2021
Yerba Buena SX80: in 2023 the city received funding to complete the design and environmental phase of this project. That funding came from a combination of Actc, California State Coastal conservancy and an allocation from Wida, of Rm. 3 funds.
Yerba Buena SX80: And that’s essentially where we are today.
Yerba Buena SX80: So the city just recently, in mid April, released the notice of preparation for the environmental impact report, so that scoping period is open. Now that notice of preparation is posted on the city’s website and goes into much more detail about the project purpose. But here tonight we wanted to focus on the 2 most fundamental aspects of Project purpose here.
Yerba Buena SX80: The 1st of those is to restore and enhance the recreational opportunities at the Berkeley waterfront. Now, the most visible of those opportunities is the pier itself and the public access on the pier. But, as you’ll see tonight, there are multiple other recreation improvements that are part of this project.
Yerba Buena SX80: and then, of course, to provide that 0 emission, all electric ferry service between Berkeley and San Francisco.
Yerba Buena SX80: Of course we can’t operate a ferry with without Wida. And so the partnership with Wida really is a fundamental aspect of the overall project.
Yerba Buena SX80: This is a good place to note that when the pier was 1st closed in 2015, the city did seek out engineering estimates for what it would take to simply repair the pier.
Yerba Buena SX80: Those cost estimates ranged from 27 million to 72 million dollars, and those cost estimates did not include any improvements to the pier, for things like sea level rise or shoreline resiliency.
Yerba Buena SX80: as you can imagine, a cost estimate in that range for a recreation only project that does not incorporate any sort of sea level rise is simply not feasible.
Yerba Buena SX80: Partnering with Wida allows this project to add that layer of transportation element to it which opens up transportation funding to support this project that ends up being a win-win where the city is able to make meaningful improvements, to restore recreation access, and Wida is able to add this link in their operations that has long been a goal of theirs.
Yerba Buena SX80: This service between Berkeley and San Francisco is part of Wida’s 2050 Service vision. It’s also included in other regional transportation plans, such as the Metropolitan Transportation Commission Plan Bay Area 2050 and 2050 plus.
Yerba Buena SX80: I just want to note quickly. We refer to this as the Berkeley waterfront. But it’s important to note that, in fact, this entire area that we define as the Berkeley waterfront are public tidelands that are held in trust by the city of Berkeley.
Yerba Buena SX80: Okay, so this is coming back to those exist that existing condition. And I’m gonna run through quickly some of the key
Yerba Buena SX80: infrastructure and amenities that exist at the Berkeley waterfront.
Yerba Buena SX80: Okay, so for starters here we have skates on the bay. This is just north of the project area. This is an existing and operational restaurant. Of course we have the pier itself currently closed to the public
Yerba Buena SX80: moving south just on the southern tip of the Berkeley waterfront, just south of the project area, is 199 seawall.
Yerba Buena SX80: formerly known as his Lordships restaurant. This restaurant has been vacant and closed for several years now, but the city is actively working on bringing on a new tenant
Yerba Buena SX80: just north of there we have the seawall parking lot. This is a multi-use parking lot that has been intermittently closed since 2020. It’s currently open during our highest use visit periods primarily, summer weekends
Yerba Buena SX80: coming around the bend sort of in the center of this project area. Here is Shorebird Park.
Yerba Buena SX80: which includes the shoreboard Nature center shoreboard park hosts, workshops and classes, field trips and summer camps, as well as having multiple barbecue areas that are reservable by the public
Yerba Buena SX80: continuing east easterly just adjacent to Shorebird Park. Here is adventure playground. This is my favorite playground in Berkeley. If you haven’t been, I encourage you to visit. It’s a playground, an interactive playground that is actively constructed by the kids while they’re there. It’s really unique in the entire Bay area.
Yerba Buena SX80: We do have a bit of a typo on our legend here. So number 8 here adjacent to adventure playground is Cal Sailing Club, which is a nonprofit organization that offers sailing and windsurfing lessons and programs.
Yerba Buena SX80: Next to Cal sailing. Here, again, a bit of a typo on our presentation is Cal Adventures, which is also known as Uc Aquatics Center. This is run by Uc. Berkeley, and offers classes and programs for kayakers. Sailing, paddle, boarding, and rentals.
Yerba Buena SX80: Just across the street is the Berkeley Marina Sportsman center, which is essentially a bait and tackle shop, offering fishing supplies and snacks, and then, right next to that is Hana Japan, which is another existing operational restaurant.
Yerba Buena SX80: We, of course, have the Berkeley Marina, and it’s worth mentioning the guardian sculpture here, which is actually a sculpture that is protected by Berkeley municipal code. And so we’ll be working around that sculpture.
Yerba Buena SX80: And then, finally, we have, of course, our public roadways within the project area. So we have University Avenue which travels east, west and connects the Berkeley waterfront to downtown Berkeley and Seawall Drive, which travels north south along the water. In this vicinity
Yerba Buena SX80: this slide provides an overview of the public parking available at the Berkeley waterfront. The areas in shaded green here represent over 1,600 parking stalls that are managed and regulated by the city of Berkeley for all of our waterfront users. The reason we included this slide is because what we’ve heard very consistently from our existing waterfront users is concerned for how this project will impact their access to parking
Yerba Buena SX80: Kittleson traffic engineers have authored a parking and transportation demand management study. The draft of that study is posted on our website, as well as an addendum to that draft which was authored to answer specific questions and concerns. We heard from the public on the draft report.
Yerba Buena SX80: What that analysis does is. Look at each one of these parking lots in detail and uses multiple years of data to assess the existing usage and occupancy of these parking lots. The report identifies 2 specific parking lots in addition to seawall drive
Yerba Buena SX80: that are well suited for shared use for ferry riders because they have the existing capacity to accommodate that shared use without impacts to recreation access.
Yerba Buena SX80: What the report also does is present specific transportation demand management strategies to reduce the reliance on single cars for ferry riders. And you’ll see some of those transportation demand management strategies tonight, as they relate to specific built infrastructure, such as bicycle infrastructure.
Yerba Buena SX80: I’m not going to read this slide out loud, but the goal here is to give you a high, level overview of all of the planning efforts underway at the Berkeley waterfront. This is a very big and important project, but it is by no means the only project underway at the Berkeley waterfront.
Yerba Buena SX80: The top items, one through 5 are projects that have recently completed construction. The rest of the list is really sort of the entire kitchen sink. What I mean by that is that some of the projects on that list are under construction this summer.
Yerba Buena SX80: Other projects on that list have perhaps completed a planning phase, but do not have any funding to complete the next phases of environmental design and construction. But we wanted to give an idea of the full breadth of work underway at the Marine, at the Berkeley waterfront. To both maintain and improve our existing infrastructure.
Yerba Buena SX80: With that I’m going to hand it over to Liz to provide an overview of the proposed project.
Yerba Buena SX80: Thank you, Liza.
Yerba Buena SX80: I get the fun part I get to actually tell you what we’re thinking about.
Yerba Buena SX80: So here we have a similar graphic that lists a number of things that are being contemplated for this project that I’ll now go through in order.
Yerba Buena SX80: So first, st as we’ve discussed a key part of this project, and a key part of the project purpose is to remove and replace the a section of the existing pier that is currently closed, and install a new pier in breakwater that provides pedestrian access and recreational amenities. Returning these facilities to this area.
Yerba Buena SX80: This will also allow for installation of a new ferry. New ferry infrastructure with 0 emission, electric Passenger ferry service
Yerba Buena SX80: in order to allow for ferry service to be operational here. The project will need to include a dredging episode, as Liza explained at the top of this presentation, that is why our project area extends so far out into San Francisco Bay.
Yerba Buena SX80: The
Yerba Buena SX80: initial designs indicate that this project will only need to do a single dredging episode as part of project implementation. We don’t expect this project to require significant, consistent maintenance dredging
Yerba Buena SX80: on the public land side. The project includes a new public plaza right where the pier meets the land side, right around around where Liza pointed out that statue which will be protected in place as she discussed.
Yerba Buena SX80: In addition, the project includes a number of proposed improvements along University Avenue and Seawall Drive, which I’ll get into in a moment.
Yerba Buena SX80: and the project involves implementation of a portion of a planned San Francisco Bay Trail Extension, which we also will have a more detailed graphic on in a moment.
Yerba Buena SX80: Here we have a rendering of the proposed peer.
Yerba Buena SX80: The project proposes to remove and replace a portion of the existing pier with a new pier that provides both pedestrian access and ferry access. As you can see.
Yerba Buena SX80: the portion of the pier that extends perpendicular from the shoreline is in line with the existing pier alignment, but what this project also adds is the breakwater which we call the sword design, which also would provide additional public access, and would serve to protect the ferries during landing. As this is one of the windiest areas in the Bay, and protection is necessary to allow the ferries to be able to operate and land safely.
Yerba Buena SX80: A total of about 1,500 feet of pedestrian access for walking, jogging, sightseeing, wildlife, viewing, and fishing is proposed as part of this project, and, as we’ve stated many times, this would be a fully electric ferry, which is very exciting
Yerba Buena SX80: in terms of circulation. As I mentioned, the project will involve implementing a portion of a proposed Bay trail extension.
Yerba Buena SX80: The red lines here show existing pathways that are not currently designated as San Francisco Bay Trail. Largely these are composed of existing sidewalks, whereas the green it shows existing Bay trail extension.
Yerba Buena SX80: So I know it’s hard to see on this graphic. But the green here that’s by the sailing club that’s existing Bay trail extension. And then it continues, there is existing pathway here in red, but it’s not official bay trail. It’s a pretty degraded surface. What this project would provide is implementing a portion of this bay trail. Extension in this dotted line along Seawall drive up to the pier to connect these systems and improve that circulation.
Yerba Buena SX80: It would also provide additional return public access in the form of the pier and its breakwater, as shown here.
Yerba Buena SX80: the project would also is proposing to include a raised cycle track along University Avenue that would go straight to the ferry to provide more efficient and safer cycling opportunities for potential commuters or visitors of the ferry service which in turn would also allow people to visit this area more easily without the need to bring a car. In addition.
Yerba Buena SX80: Actc is has existing and would include proposed stops that would allow users to take the bus from
Yerba Buena SX80: downtown Berkeley into the ferry for another option for A public transit connection to the ferry system. The inset map on the bottom right here shows that actc bus route.
Yerba Buena SX80: We’d next like to highlight as consistent with the project purpose that Liza went through earlier. The ways in which this project is consistent with Bcdca plan policies
Yerba Buena SX80: and just highlight. Some of the policies that are in the existing Bay Plan that we feel are supportive of this project. There are a number of policies in the Bay Plan that are supportive of multimodal connections and public transportation. We’re just highlighting some critical ones here. Specifically, recreation policy number 9. We are aware that this project is within
Yerba Buena SX80: a waterfront park priority use area shown in green here.
Yerba Buena SX80: Which priority use areas, as you probably know, have some special requirements for them.
Yerba Buena SX80: however, according to the recreation policy, ferry terminals are allowed in waterfront park priority use areas and marinas, fishing piers and launching lanes, provided that the development and the operation of the ferry facilities do not interfere with current or future park and recreational users and navigational safety can be assured.
Yerba Buena SX80: In addition, this policy states that terminal configuration and operation should not disrupt continuous shoreline access, and that facilities provided for the park in Marina, patrons, such as parking should not be usurped by ferry patrons, and that shared parking arrangements should be provided to minimize the amount of shoreline area needed for parking.
Yerba Buena SX80: And with that I’m going to pass it back to Liza.
Yerba Buena SX80: So I mentioned that the city conducted public outreach during the feasibility study from 2019 to 2021.
Yerba Buena SX80: When we started our current efforts, one of the 1st things that Rincon looked at for us was environmental justice, and how the project had thus far met or not met environmental justice outreach.
Yerba Buena SX80: beginning in 2025. Again, with Rincon’s support, we initiated a comprehensive public outreach effort to update the public and receive public feedback on this project with a focus on environmental justice and underrepresented communities.
Yerba Buena SX80: I believe the last of these presentations we just did on Friday. So I think we can now close that this phase. What I’m not going to list all of these out loud. But you’ll see here we have gone to almost 2 dozen of our community groups and community events to present this project.
Yerba Buena SX80: and what we’ve heard from the public is broad support for this project in particular, for having a ferry service, a 0 emission ferry service in West Berkeley an area that is underserved in particular, for Cross Bay transportation needs.
Yerba Buena SX80: we have heard really consistently. The second bullet here concerns about the parking availability, especially for our existing recreation users. And as we explore parking regulations such as paid parking concerns about how that could impact low impact residents. A lot of ideas from the public. People are really excited about the idea of having, like pop up food
Yerba Buena SX80: vendors and pop up events in the new Plaza
Yerba Buena SX80: and a lot of excitement about bringing this public amenity back to the public with peer access.
Yerba Buena SX80: So, as I mentioned, we’re right here on the 1st half of 2025, wrapping up our engineering technical studies and our conceptual design. We’ve just published our notice of preparation for an Eir, and that public scoping period is open, I believe, until May 18.th
Yerba Buena SX80: And we’re turning now to developing our detailed design.
Yerba Buena SX80: If all goes as as planned, we will have a bid ready set of plans with permits in hand by early 2027, and be ready to start construction.
Yerba Buena SX80: And as noted here we do, you know, fully acknowledge this is a briefing. We will be back in front of this Design Review Board, and are really excited to get your feedback today on ideas for how to organize our future presentations to best serve you.
Yerba Buena SX80: And that is it for our presentation. Thank you.
Yerba Buena SX80: Okay, thank you very much. That was very clear and great job. So just we’ll have some clarification questions. Now, I just want to kick off with a couple, and we’ll keep going. Just a clarification as you move towards construction of the sources of funding confirmed for construction. Yet
Yerba Buena SX80: no, we do not have construction funding in place, yet. Do you have targets for where you
Yerba Buena SX80: are looking for construction. We do as you can imagine. The last several months have been a lot of change with expectations for future funding, but we have been working with Wida to identify transportation, related funds as well as
Yerba Buena SX80: as other funding sources for different elements of the project. So so we do fully anticipate that this project, in the long run may be broken into phases for the construction depending on how that construction funding comes through. Right? Thank you. And just a question about
Yerba Buena SX80: I just wanna make sure I understood what you said about the new pier construction. Will you remove, demolish all of the
Yerba Buena SX80: the current piles and then repile for the new pier. Or do you just replace the decking and upgrade it? Great question within the footprint of the new pier? We will be completely demolishing the old pier
Yerba Buena SX80: beyond the footprint of the new pier sections. Portions of the old pier will be removed as mitigation. Exactly how much of the old pier is removed remains to be determined. That will be something that we largely based on feedback from the regional water quality control board and the other environmental agencies. Okay, thank you.
Yerba Buena SX80: And just a contextual question, I know a lot of this work is still in process. But
Yerba Buena SX80: in terms of proposed Wida Ferry service. Can you just describe what the anticipated numbers of hours of service, how many ferries stop there a day? Yep, absolutely. So. Wida has published their planned service in their 2022 Berkeley business plan, which is available on their website. What that plan envisions is service roughly every half an hour during the weekday
Yerba Buena SX80: peak. Commute hours. So that’s roughly, I wanna say, about 7 Am. To 9 Am. In the mornings and 4 Pm. To 6 Pm. And 7 Pm. In the evenings on the weekends they envision running the ferry service only hourly. They do include in their business plan the
Yerba Buena SX80: the the option for running occasional special event service, such as for large games or concerts.
Yerba Buena SX80: and there is also consideration of future expansion to add service between Berkeley and Larkspur. They don’t go into a level of detail as far as how often that ferry service would run, and it’s hard to tell from the illustration. But what is the capacity of an electric ferry that’s illustrated? Yeah, that’s to be determined. Yeah, we what we’re working on now is whether the
Yerba Buena SX80: ferry that they are. As I mentioned, Wida is currently in contract to design and construct their 1st electric ferry.
Yerba Buena SX80: We don’t know for certain whether that particular ferry will serve this terminal, or whether we will have a different ferry, a different vessel serving this terminal. I mean just approximately, I mean, there’s the Treasure Island example. I believe it’s approximately 250 people is the capacity of the ferry. The business plan does include that. I just don’t recall it off the top of my head. That’s fine. I mean, just trying to get a sense of whether it’s a
Yerba Buena SX80: you know, a Treasure Island interim 50 person ferry. It’s more on the order of magnitude of 200. Yep. Got it? And just a broader contextual question.
Yerba Buena SX80: did the work done by your consultant?
Yerba Buena SX80: the traffic? Planning, parking, planning, consultant? Have they? Have they established
Yerba Buena SX80: where the people are coming from? Who are going to use.
Yerba Buena SX80: The ferries are a way of getting some guidance on that, so they have not established points of origin of ferry riders. What their analysis does do is, it looks at the ridership projections which are in the Wida 2022 Berkeley business plan, and then looks at mode split for how people will arrive
Yerba Buena SX80: based on those ridership numbers from Weda, and they look at both. That mode split without any transportation demand management. And then with implementation of transportation demand management strategies. Okay.
Yerba Buena SX80: good. Thank you. Gary, please go ahead. Clarifying questions. I don’t have any questions right now. Thank you.
Yerba Buena SX80: Kristen. Thank you so much for the presentation very informative.
Yerba Buena SX80: I have a sort of a big picture question
Yerba Buena SX80: about the waterfront specific plan and the status of that, and the kind of uses that are being contemplated. And specifically, it was my understanding that
Yerba Buena SX80: some of the parking lots were being looked at as opportunities for like housing or other uses is there? How does that fit into this work? Yeah, great question just to clarify the waterfront specific plan does not include any housing elements, because since this is public tide lands. Private housing would never be allowed by the trust agreement. Excuse me.
Yerba Buena SX80: The waterfront specific plan was published in draft. I believe the most recent draft update was in the fall of
Yerba Buena SX80: 2023. Since then City Council has directed staff to redirect the funding that existed to finalize the waterfront specific plan to instead expand the scope of the waterfront specific plan to look at Cesar Chavez Park.
Yerba Buena SX80: That work is happening now. But what that means is that there is no longer funding to finalize the waterfront specific plan, including to do any of the environmental impact. So future scheduling or funding for finalization of the waterfront specific plan, including sequel analysis, for it is not identified at this time.
Yerba Buena SX80: Okay, thank you for that.
Yerba Buena SX80: I also just had a few sort of questions about
Yerba Buena SX80: the ferry. Would this be? I know a number of the ferry terminals have parking for ferries overnight. Is that something that would happen here? Or is this just a stop? And they go park somewhere else, just to stop and go ferries would not be birthing overnight in this location. Okay? And then
Yerba Buena SX80: just curious about the one time dredging. I don’t know the ins and outs of how the permit works with dredging, but it seems
Yerba Buena SX80: I’m curious. Why, you only think it would be one time, and if you wouldn’t want
Yerba Buena SX80: to be able to do more dredging if it was important for ferry operations. Yeah. So Weda generally has been moving away from maintenance dredging. They don’t want to have to do maintenance dredging. It’s expensive, as you can imagine. And so our goal with the initial dredge design is to conduct the dredging in such a way that they do not have future maintenance dredging. Now
Yerba Buena SX80: will we be successful? That remains to be seen. And so there is the chance that in the long term future additional maintenance stretching would be required. If that is the case, that is something that Weda would approach as a separate project. It is not part of this project.
Yerba Buena SX80: and then
Yerba Buena SX80: in terms of the parking that maybe this is like way too detailed of a question. But
Yerba Buena SX80: do you have thoughts on how you would separate the ferry parking from the recreation parking like. Is there
Yerba Buena SX80: a a payment, you know? Do you have to pay to park there now, would you have to pay that park there in the future. How how do you sort of
Yerba Buena SX80: anticipate that those would be
Yerba Buena SX80: controlled or separated? Or, if if at all, maybe not, that’s a great question. And and the short answer is, we haven’t gotten there yet. So what our parking study has done is identified
Yerba Buena SX80: where specifically, we have the capacity for this shared use. The next question, of course, is, well, how do we ensure that full day ferry commuters? Only park in those locations that we have determined, and for that. We’re going to need an overhaul of our parking regulations at the waterfront we’ve presented to our public at our parks recreation and Waterfront Commission meeting a very preliminary range of
Yerba Buena SX80: alternatives to get high level public feedback on that. In general, we’ve heard support for paid parking
Yerba Buena SX80: for ferry riders while also hearing a real priority to make sure that parking for recreation users remains free, or at least very, very low cost. But our next step in that is to continue to refine and iterate on those parking regulations, and figure out not only what the regulations are, but what that means from signage and layout of parking lots, etc, to make sure that we have very clear communication to all of our users
Yerba Buena SX80: where they can and cannot park
Yerba Buena SX80: and then I. It sounds like the
Yerba Buena SX80: waterfront. Specific plan is not moving forward. So
Yerba Buena SX80: is there any related redevelopment that we should be understanding that may happen in this area in the future.
Yerba Buena SX80: Sounds like not housing
Yerba Buena SX80: more kind of hotel and commercial uses. Or do you have a sense of that at all, just so that we can have that in our minds as we’re sort of thinking about. Yeah, it’s a great question. I think that within our project area that we showed in yellow. There are no other meaningful
Yerba Buena SX80: developments or redevelopments on the horizon. We are actively working on getting a new leaseholder into the 1 99 seawall restaurant building. So that certainly, if we are successful, you know, bringing that restaurant back online is probably the most
Yerba Buena SX80: nearest term redevelopment type project that would happen otherwise. A lot of the efforts at the Berkeley waterfront really are to maintain and replace in kind our current infrastructure.
Yerba Buena SX80: Thank you.
Yerba Buena SX80: Okay, thanks. Kristen. Bob, clarifying questions. Yes, I have a couple. So
Yerba Buena SX80: do you think the conceptual design is sufficient for environmental review?
Yerba Buena SX80: Often more recently, in my experience, I’m a design engineer retired, but we often have to go beyond a conceptual design to what we would consider
Yerba Buena SX80: preliminary design.
Yerba Buena SX80: Yeah. So I think what we showed you today as the conceptual diner design is certainly not sufficient for for the environmental review. And so what what we’re working on is making sure that our environmental team has the level of detail that they need. So the 30% design development and the sequel document development are happening together to make sure I didn’t see that on your bar chart. Although I guess there was some overlap. But
Yerba Buena SX80: But I I think I made my point. So okay, thank you. That’s good.
Yerba Buena SX80: will. Alternative locations for the ferry terminal terminal be considered in the Eir, or has it been scoped yet.
Yerba Buena SX80: The full scope of what alternatives will be studied in the air has not been finalized. There’s no discussion on what those alternatives might be or
Yerba Buena SX80: not, we haven’t settled on what those alternatives might be. That’s part of the scoping process is getting feedback from the public.
Yerba Buena SX80: Will the project go before the Engineering Criteria Review Board. I think that’s a question for it will. Okay, yeah, I’m an engineer. So I’m asking things that you know are different than
Yerba Buena SX80: the other kind of design
Yerba Buena SX80: So I just. I haven’t looked at the public comments. And how is it that with all the public access. I get the impression that there are some people that feel that they weren’t re reached, or they, you know, and these people seem to be
Yerba Buena SX80: primarily swimmers, or you know, people that maybe aren’t organized as much as the bay trail, or or whatever
Yerba Buena SX80: do you have any thoughts on that?
Yerba Buena SX80: I think the city has conducted a really extensive public outreach. Now I will say that in our our 2025 efforts we’ve really been focused on getting to some of our less represented users. So not our existing waterfront users, but some of our communities who may not be as aware of the opportunities in the Berkeley waterfront. Yeah, it might be a little bit of a cultural issue, you know. I’m a surfer, obviously not in the bay.
Yerba Buena SX80: but the windsurfers and swimmers and fishermen. They’re kind of like a different group or groups, and so they don’t necessarily I didn’t see them in your list
Yerba Buena SX80: of people necessarily. So I think it’s something that you might. Wanna anyway, I think that’s enough of that. Thank you. I made my point and I appreciate that you will reach out to others.
Yerba Buena SX80: I am also skeptical about dredging once, and not having to dredge again, especially given how short that is, and I also have looking at the design. I I have a lot of questions as a
Yerba Buena SX80: as an engineer that’s worked on ferry facilities and the like. So I think. You probably do need a little more detailed analysis. It’s just my gut feeling not to criticize anyone.
Yerba Buena SX80: I think I had a bunch of other questions, but I think oh, I see. Oh.
Yerba Buena SX80: have you in this analysis that you’ve done so far? Have you studied the the wake production and wash, prop, wash, or jet wash from these facilities, either from the ferries and how they affect
Yerba Buena SX80: other surrounding features and activities.
Yerba Buena SX80: So our Coe, our design engineers are currently looking at the the shoreline kind of wave action, and how that is impacted by both the ferry operations and the breakwater itself. That report hasn’t there? It’s in work right now. We haven’t received a draft of that yet, but that is something that they’re looking at. Yeah, that’s great, because that’s a big deal in a lot of places, even though there is
Yerba Buena SX80: some conception that catamarans don’t produce waves and don’t have wake wash. But in fact.
Yerba Buena SX80: I think we’ve observed it, even though they’re not as bad as the monoholes. The old Golden Gate Ferry monoholes, but they they do have an effect which needs to be looked at, I think carefully.
Yerba Buena SX80: Thanks.
Yerba Buena SX80: Thank you. Appreciate it. Thanks, Bob. You know I just have one clarifying question which I meant to ask before the illustration just reminded me
Yerba Buena SX80: just to check. So public access on the new pier extends beyond the breakwater out a further 200 feet, or something like that is that correct? Yes, that’s correct. So there’s an extension of the pier beyond the breakwater that is purely for additional recreation, right? And then it terminates at a point where there’ll be some demolition, partial demolition to be determined of the correct. Okay.
Yerba Buena SX80: thanks for that good.
Yerba Buena SX80: Can I? Can I ask a question now, now that I’ve had time to listen in a little bit. What is I just trying to get a sense of the magnitude of
Yerba Buena SX80: Berkeley Parks project versus the Weda project. Is there like a percentage? Or are you dividing them by scope areas or by by financial responsibility? Or and yeah, it’s a great question, and it’s largely Tbd, so what the city and Weda established in our 1st memorandum of understanding is that we would essentially develop cost, sharing agreements for the future phases as needed.
Yerba Buena SX80: This phase that we’re in now, the city was able to obtain 100% of the funding. And so we didn’t need to get into the cost sharing for construction, or we didn’t need to get into the cost, sharing for design and environmental quite yet, depending on where the construction funding comes from at a very high level. Conceptually the city and we have agreed to a cost sharing model where the
Yerba Buena SX80: Weda pays for those elements that are for the ferry. The city pays for those elements that are purely for recreation, and that we come up with a cost sharing for those those facilities that are both.
Yerba Buena SX80: But any details related to that future cost sharing have yet to be determined, and will really be influenced by where that funding is coming from, and and how we need to separate it, based on the limits of the funding.
Yerba Buena SX80: is there, like an estimated total project costs at build out, or any anything to kind of establish, like, how big is it? Yeah. And I should have had a slide for that. I apologize. If I’m I’m the the rough number is, I believe, about 86 million dollars for all of it. Now, that’s from the feasibility study. And so we’re in the process right now of updating that based on the updated conceptual
Yerba Buena SX80: study. So the number will change based on the updated design. But that gives you the order of magnitude of what they estimated, based on the feasibility study.
Yerba Buena SX80: Okay, thank you. And do you do you think I mean, it seems like the Wida part is probably much more. They have much more responsibility, for all the marine construction is must be much more expensive than landscape improvements, is there? Yeah. And the slide I have, for that does break it out. And again I’m going to have to sort of
Yerba Buena SX80: do my best to remember. But if, at a rough order of magnitude. I believe it was about 65 million was the pure. The ferry related infrastructure, and 14 ish 1 million was the land side improvements. I will say that of that waterside improvement. Some of that is, of course, dual use. Right? It’s it’s both both for Weda and for public recreation. So that doesn’t necessarily equate to a 1 for one when it comes to cost sharing
Yerba Buena SX80: great. Thank you. Seems like a very fortuitous partnership.
Yerba Buena SX80: Okay, well, I think
Yerba Buena SX80: that that concludes the board, clarifying questions. And before we move to public comment, I meant to say this earlier, but
Yerba Buena SX80: this really is a spectacular site. So
Yerba Buena SX80: we see a lot of very spectacular places around the bay. But this this is really quite special. So I’m glad you guys are giving it a lot of attention, and I’m glad that the outreach process will continue. And on that vein let’s move to public comment
Yerba Buena SX80: and
Yerba Buena SX80: I’m just going to remind people of the Protocols again. So any member of the public attending the meeting in person. You can notify the Board Secretary if you want to make a comment. And I think there are some already there. And we’ve talked about the procedure for online making public comments, raise virtual hand. Or if you’re joining by phone press. Star 9 to make a comment.
Yerba Buena SX80: okay. So Ashley, I’m gonna hand to you, I think, just to summarize some of the feedback received already. If you could do that, thank you.
Yerba Buena SX80: I’m actually would request that we have the comments in the room 1st and then online, and then I’ll summarize because some of the names are the same, and I’d rather the
Yerba Buena SX80: comments come from them. Then the individuals, by summarizing their own comments. Excellent! Okay, so if you could lead with public comment.
Yerba Buena SX80: Alright. 1st up is Jim Mcgrath.
Yerba Buena SX80: Good evening. My name is Jim Mcgrath. I’m the founder of a group called save the Berkeley Pier. I’ve been working on public access for 50 years or so
Yerba Buena SX80: Coastal Commission since 76. So
Yerba Buena SX80: I I’ve got a presentation. But I’m gonna start with Saturday. I was at a fundraiser at
Yerba Buena SX80: Sylvia Mclaughlin’s old house for save the Bay, and it reminded me of how important
Yerba Buena SX80: Bcdc. And Bcdc. Design Review Board is in all of this. You are the protectors of the bay from unnecessary fill.
Yerba Buena SX80: So you have a responsibility to consider alternatives, and you have the responsibility to make sure that does that design a public access works, and we don’t lose it.
Yerba Buena SX80: And of course I’m worried about that. So this is a typical day in Berkeley, Marina. You can see that there’s surf skis and the like.
Yerba Buena SX80: and it says, Where’s the park we were promised now, why, why do I say that
Yerba Buena SX80: just to show that they’re not all water users? In fact, only about 20% of the user people that actually go to the water. This is the Sunday Drum circle. I didn’t bring the Pakistani family, and like
Yerba Buena SX80: so why am I worried about the park? Well, this is the pre-fill photo, and I was surprised by the city’s comments that they don’t know where it was because they got a permit from Bcdc. They know what the jurisdiction is.
Yerba Buena SX80: The bay was filled to create a permanent recreational area, not a commuter term.
Yerba Buena SX80: no matter how you, Gussey it up. It was created for this purpose.
Yerba Buena SX80: and that was supported by Sylvia Mclaughlin.
Yerba Buena SX80: What have they done with it?
Yerba Buena SX80: This is the closed parking of that recreational area.
Yerba Buena SX80: There’s a windsurfing access point directly ahead of that.
Yerba Buena SX80: They made it pretty hard to park and reach.
Yerba Buena SX80: This is the east dock used by swimmers wingers, kiteboards, these surf, skis, and the like
Yerba Buena SX80: closed, and we just heard from the city that, despite a recent passage and an increase in the parks tax of 3.5 million dollars, of which the Council promised a 1.5 million dollars to the Marina.
Yerba Buena SX80: They don’t need funds to repair it this year.
Yerba Buena SX80: This is the marina, which is the recreational area where kids are taught to sail. Kids are taught to kayak.
Yerba Buena SX80: but not these days. It hasn’t been maintained.
Yerba Buena SX80: This is the path. I made the mistake of trying to ride out to his lordships on the path next to the bay
Yerba Buena SX80: boy. That was a mistake. This is how the city of Berkeley doesn’t maintain it.
Yerba Buena SX80: So I’m gonna go back and invoke.
Yerba Buena SX80: Sylvia Mcglaughlin, and I’m going to remind you that how we preserve
Yerba Buena SX80: resources is we create emotional value in. You can see the smile on Sylvia’s face. It was on my bucket list, too.
Yerba Buena SX80: I had her in the bay.
Yerba Buena SX80: It’s nice to have your butt under the water to see what it looks like from that. Do I have a minute because I would like to correct some of the comments that the city made. If if I don’t have the time, I’ll do it in writing
Yerba Buena SX80: it is at your discretion chair. If you want to give an additional minute, we we’ve consumed 3 min.
Yerba Buena SX80: Yes, how many comments have we got?
Yerba Buena SX80: We have
Yerba Buena SX80: sorry. I only ask, because I want to be fair. And we have we 6 comments in the room?
Yerba Buena SX80: No one online has raised their hand. Yet. Can I ask the okay.
Yerba Buena SX80: please go ahead. Well, the 1st thing let’s go to the cost. Since it was the last question. The cost estimate is 121 million dollars. For the total cost, including ferries. That’s the 1920 21 cost estimate. It looks like the ferry cost is doubled.
Yerba Buena SX80: So there’s about maybe another 30 or 40. The city’s proportion of that under the agreement, is somewhere between 25 and 35 million, not 14 million
Yerba Buena SX80: as as far as equity. What I want you to know is that just last Friday the city
Yerba Buena SX80: proposed to start initiating, charging for parking in the Marina, including on those lands filled that Bcdc. Retains jurisdiction on. Now I worked for many years to try to get the bay trail and the improvements into the into the Marina. They diversified the kinds of users massively. As I said, only about 20% of us have anything to do with getting to the water.
Yerba Buena SX80: If you start charging for parking. You are going to undiversify Berkeley, Marina, and to talk about equity while you’re planning to charge the poor.
Yerba Buena SX80: I find a little offensive. I’ll leave the rest of the comments for later.
Yerba Buena SX80: Thank you very much. Next Speaker
Yerba Buena SX80: Andrew Sullivan. You are up next, followed by David Davidson.
Yerba Buena SX80: And do they have my documents.
Yerba Buena SX80: Okay? Great.
Yerba Buena SX80: 1st of all, I’d just like to thank you all for dedicating yourselves to protecting the shoreline. It means a lot to us.
Yerba Buena SX80: I’m the current president of the San Francisco Board Sailing Association, and we represent about 5,000 voice board sailors around the Bay area. 250 of our board sailors identify the East Dock and the South Basin specifically as their launch point. That may seem like a small number, but I want you to keep that number in mind when you’re looking at some of these documents in front of you. Those users launch 3 to 6 times a week
Yerba Buena SX80: from march through September. They’re super users of the bay, and they use that dock that’s closed as their primary launch point. Okay, I want to talk about a couple of things here with you.
Yerba Buena SX80: One is, I want to put Berkeley into the regional access network of the East Bay because it exists as part of a fragile network of access between the kind of Richmond area all the way down through Oakland. Okay? And there’s a limited number of access points that we have to get to the water.
Yerba Buena SX80: I want to talk about the Albany Case study that’s being completely ignored when considering this this group and how there is latent demand out there that’s activated when you simply maintain facilities. And I want to talk about what happens when access is being pinched in these really critical urban areas. Okay, now with with the parking area. You know, I was just trying to figure out how many parking spaces do we have in the area. So I looked at Berkeley
Yerba Buena SX80: and the and the parking spaces that give us access to the South Basin. All right. Specifically, I looked at Albany Beach. Everything there. I looked at Point Isabel and I looked at Marina Bay, both parking lots of Marina Bay, Vincent J. Barbara J. Vincent as well as Shamada. Okay of those spots. You have 1, 63 of the 1 87, right? I counted them on using Google Maps, all right. And the shot from Google Maps is on a Monday, a working Monday at 1030 Am. In February.
Yerba Buena SX80: Those are the Google map photos that I used using those photos, the 187 spaces in the South Basin, lot 163 are occupied in the photo.
Yerba Buena SX80: all right. Of the 85 at Albany, 85 are occupied, and 3 cars are waiting to park. That’s a common occurrence at Albany, which I’ll return to.
Yerba Buena SX80: Of the 107 at Point Isabel 62 are occupied, and of the 68 at Marina Bay 54 were occupied. That’s a Monday morning during the week. Okay, that’s a really, because everybody here in the recreational community knows this. We have trouble already accessing some of our sites. And that’s why we’re so worried about what’s happening in Berkeley. It’s not just Berkeley. It’s the regional
Yerba Buena SX80: role that we need you to maintain. Help us maintain to have access to the shoreline right? Not just anything. It’s parking near the shoreline that’s really critical.
Yerba Buena SX80: Just to give you context, there are already 4,000 104,100 shoreline parking spaces dedicated to ferry commuters between Larkspur, Vallejo, Richmond, and and Oakland.
Yerba Buena SX80: 2,000 in larkspur, 750 in Vallejo, 362, in Richmond and 1,000 in Oakland. Those are on our shoreline. Okay, that’s how we’re already prioritizing access to our shoreline. Your time is up.
Yerba Buena SX80: It’s 3 more minutes from allocated. That’s okay. I’ve got 2 more points I’d like to make.
Yerba Buena SX80: Please go ahead. Thank you. The case study of Albany is important because it has real implications for how we’re looking at parking in Berkeley, right? I contacted Chris Barton, of the East Bay Regional Park District, who is a manager of the Bay Trail extension to the Albany Bowl.
Yerba Buena SX80: They tracked 187 daily users to the bulb prior to their renovation. All right, all they did was formalize access to the beach via the Bay Trail extension that people were already traveling through the parking lot. They formalized it. They upgraded the Porta potties to create permanent structures there, and they repaved a trail that was already existing on the southern neck of the bulb.
Yerba Buena SX80: They made some minor beach extensions, but they actually fenced off most of the beach, and they created a nicer pop out in one section. No new facilities to create new use at that spot you regularly see 250 people at the beach
Yerba Buena SX80: at the same time throughout the day. That’s why you see 85 of the 85 spots taken on a Monday morning. Right? So that beach improvement effort activated latent demand. And they’re not all swimmers and kiters running to the beach. This is what’s what’s happening. There’s a user group that isn’t here. And these are the people that just come to the shoreline to hang out with their family
Yerba Buena SX80: and be by the shoreline. It’s now impacting our ability to use it. We can’t get to the beach anymore. Swimmers don’t come to that beach because of the parking issue. I think Berkeley needs to look at what happens to the space when they actually open up the docks, open up the pier, create bay trails that people can walk on. You’ll see much more baseline usage there if you had a park that was properly maintained. So the parking studies that are happening
Yerba Buena SX80: are happening at an age year in the park status. So the Albany Case study, I think, should be in your minds when you’re thinking of what real use demand is in the area. Now, one of the interesting groups out there that’s really hard to organize is the anglers.
Yerba Buena SX80: Right? Anglers are all over the place, but they don’t have an official representation. Okay, they’ve lost a couple of critical sites. The pier was a major site loss. The Bay trail extension to Albany Beach, knocked off another part, which is the road between Tom Bates, sports Field, and Albany Beach was a major fall over for them. They got knocked off that toll plaza got closed by the port authority recently.
Yerba Buena SX80: The result has been a dramatic increase in the number of board sailors being caught in fishing lines.
Yerba Buena SX80: In the past 6 months we had 4 over this weekend
Yerba Buena SX80: right? We had fishermen hanging out in his lordship’s cove, which is one of our unofficial launches
Yerba Buena SX80: who wouldn’t move and they have a right to be there. The problem is these users now, because we’re having access pinched from Albany and closure of other sites are moving into and competing territorially with other recreational users. So the anglers are a really good case. Study of the kinds of tensions that arise when we don’t look at the regional impacts of access to our shoreline.
Yerba Buena SX80: And I want to end this with my favorite. You’ll need to wrap up. My favorite quote from Ee. Cummings is always the more beautiful answer, the more beautiful, who asked the more beautiful question. And I think we need to ask more beautiful questions about what our shoreline is for than what we’re asking right now in Berkeley. Thank you very much.
Yerba Buena SX80: Madeline King, followed by Robin Mangini.
Yerba Buena SX80: Thank you.
Yerba Buena SX80: Hello! I’m Madeline King. I’m I’m a member of the San Francisco Board Sailing Association, and I am a recreational user at the waterfront, and I just have a very short comment, which is
Yerba Buena SX80: selfishly, as a recreational user, I’m 1 of the people you were speaking about that
Yerba Buena SX80: didn’t feel like I was polled about my feelings on the on the matter. And indeed, that area is used by so many.
Yerba Buena SX80: as you say, swimmers and wingers and Windsurfers and fishermen, and etc. My one of my main concerns is the whole parking situation, which is, I know, a lot of people’s concern.
Yerba Buena SX80: And
Yerba Buena SX80: people are able to park there now for free. And if that changes and there’s parking fees, and people have less access than they did before, that’s a concern. I’m also just curious about
Yerba Buena SX80: another large vessel moving regularly through the bay. That’s something that just, you know. Just seeing your your map of the
Yerba Buena SX80: of the route. Just just having more large vessels moving regularly through the bay, seems like of
Yerba Buena SX80: something that should be thought about, which I’m sure it has been. But anyway, those are just my my brief thoughts, and thank you very much.
Yerba Buena SX80: Thank you very much.
Yerba Buena SX80: Hi. My name is Robin. Me and Jeannie. I’m 1 of the co-administrators of the queer swimming group called Queer Selfies Gay for the bay. We’re approximately 200 swimmers that swim in the East Bay, and I’m here today to comment on the development project because the entry point at 1 99 seawall, where his lordships currently is, is a rocky train, but is one of the 2 spots
Yerba Buena SX80: in the East Bay that our swimmers currently use to access regardless of the tide. We are also a group of a lot of floaters and people with people with disabilities. So we can’t access the water necessarily on piers, and from what I saw from the picture, it seems like the recreational use is going to be limited to a pier. So our big concern is accessing the water.
Yerba Buena SX80: regardless of the tide, and, as previously mentioned by the board sailors. It’s a really impacted area. So the idea of there being more concentration of more people, more cars needing to park and limiting access really concerns us, and we also were not consulted or included in the previous conversations around users. So we just want to make ourselves known. There’s also the Odyssey swimming group and the East Bay. Open water swimmers, groups. We’re not the only ones, and while there is some
Yerba Buena SX80: overlap, we are a ragtag bunch. We’re not distant swimmers. We’re not competitive swimmers or people that have in the last 5 years developed this group in order to support our mental health and access the water. So this
Yerba Buena SX80: point at his lordships, along with the enc boat ramp in Alameda, are only one of 2 spots we can access, regardless of the tide. So it’s a really crucial entry point for us.
Yerba Buena SX80: So we just want the Bcdc. To ask the city to conduct a more thorough and accurate analysis of parking waterfront access
Yerba Buena SX80: and commit to protecting the public amenities. Because, as you’ve heard from my other
Yerba Buena SX80: public commenters, it’s degraded to a point where we’re all really impacted into one area.
Yerba Buena SX80: Thank you.
Yerba Buena SX80: Thank you very much.
Yerba Buena SX80: Next speaker, we do have online comments. So Julie Allen, I’m going to unmute you. And you will have 3 min to speak.
Julie Allen – swimmer: Thank you. Do you hear me now?
Yerba Buena SX80: Yes.
Julie Allen – swimmer: All right. I’m Julie Allen. I’m a Berkeley resident and a Marina swimmer. As Robin mentioned the East Bay open water swim group uses the the Berkeley launch. We swim all over including at the Berkeley Marina, and the
Julie Allen – swimmer: lordship’s entry is, as previously mentioned, the spot where we can watch, regardless of the tide. This is not true of the sailing basin. Anybody that’s gone down there at low tide understands that you cannot swim
Julie Allen – swimmer: and I’ve been following this as as best I can. It’s been a little tricky. We we did manage to get a little bit of swimmer representation very, very, very late in this process. We’re really glad to be included. For my part, I think I I would really like to see better parking analysis. The the parking analysis I’ve seen so far seems to exclude peak hours.
Julie Allen – swimmer: As Andrew is saying, the parking is very tight at at peak times.
Julie Allen – swimmer: 1 point that I think, also deserves a little bit of consideration is the. There are many lots in the marina.
Julie Allen – swimmer: but many of them are not appropriate for all uses, and so I I really hope that a lot of attention will be paid to assuring appropriate parking, preserving, appropriate parking, and access for the the recreational users that that launch at that seawall space.
Julie Allen – swimmer: I submitted some some of these comments already, so you have them in writing, too, but I I thank you for letting me also talk.
Julie Allen – swimmer: and that’s it.
Yerba Buena SX80: Thank you very much. I appreciate. Appreciate that. Input
Yerba Buena SX80: next speaker, Erin dime, I’m going to ask you to unmute. You’ll have 3 min to speak.
Yerba Buena SX80: Oh, shit.
Erin Diehm: Hi! Board! Can you hear me?
Yerba Buena SX80: Yes.
Erin Diehm: Thank you for taking my comment. My name’s Erin Dean, and I’m a resident of Berkeley, and I care deeply about this location, and I have to say. I’m actually very sad to see that we are discussing bringing in a ferry here, because this is a place where people like to go to actually escape from Urban all the urban
Erin Diehm: busyness and have a place where it’s quiet. And you can really just enjoy nature.
Erin Diehm: Something that’s been a challenge is that the planning process, the the waterfront specific plan, has been bifurcated from the planning from the pier, and I don’t. I, as a community member. I simply do not understand that when we’re trying to come up with a vision for what should happen at the waterfront, how is it that the pier. If the pier and this Wsp. Were not combined.
Erin Diehm: I’m very concerned about the economics of the area. We know that many of our transit organizations are actually struggling right now, like Bart A/C. Transit and the Mta. And the ferry system is getting around at least a billion dollars of subsidies. I would like to see those kind of monies put into our ground transportation to get people out of their cars.
Erin Diehm: I’ve had real concerns about recreation that you’ve heard from some of the prior speakers, and that it will bring it in the ferry will actually change the feel of the area. And a comment was made earlier about the potential of actually having parking fees which will actually
Erin Diehm: contribute to undiversifying the area. And the Kittleson parking study actually found that something like 25 to 30% of the visitors at the waterfront are actually low income. And I really worry about what will happen if parking fees are initiated there, and parking is more restricted, and I’m also concerned that it will interfere with the access of the windsurfers and swimmers and the wingers, and all these people who just enjoy
Erin Diehm: access to the water. We know that his lordship, parking lot, has 250 spaces, and right now I think it’s being considered to hand those over to the
Erin Diehm: to the pier. And also my last is around the environment. I care very deeply about the environment, and I’m very concerned about what’s happening with climate change? I think you all probably have seen the state of the birds that just came out. The annual review that shows that all bird species are actually in decline except for one kind. So right now there are 10 terminals, and the plan is to have 26, or 27 terminals.
Erin Diehm: So I’m worried about ship strikes.
Erin Diehm: I’m worried about noise both above and below the water. I’m worried about increased turbidity that the fairy would add, I’m concerned about light pollution which we know contributes to loss of insects and aquatic life.
Erin Diehm: And I am also concerned because in my experience I’m just a community member, but that eirs only actually look at listed species. And so many of the species that could be impacted won’t even be considered in the environmental review. And we are on the Pacific flyway. So this is an extremely important location for biodiversity. And these kinds of developments can really just contribute to death by a thousand cuts. So essentially, they’re creating a new highway on the water.
Erin Diehm: And I’m not. I have. I hear that I’m very concerned. And urge you to look at this very critically.
Yerba Buena SX80: Thank you. Your time is up.
Yerba Buena SX80: Thank you for that comment or comments. I should say
Yerba Buena SX80: we did receive further written submittals. I’ll read what has not already been stated. Tonight we did hear from other open water swimmers as well. There were observations that there’s been a decline in the maintenance of recreational assets, and that these facilities are utilized by various groups, including swimmers, anglers, and non-motorized recreation vessels.
Yerba Buena SX80: and then also observations that swimmers need a place to park, a place to enter and exit the water, and a water area relatively free of fast watercraft, mentioning also a shower, would be a nice amenity as well.
Yerba Buena SX80: and then from Lee Huo, at the Mtc. Bay Trail. Their comment letter included recommendations to complete the Bay trail segment, 4,151 and improve segment 4,154, as identified in the Bay Trail Gap closure study.
Yerba Buena SX80: They requested that the Drb. Consider the width needed for the proposed Bay trail. Considering the level of demands that will be created by the proposed pier and ferry terminal as well as expected, future levels of use in the area. They requested a 20 to 30 foot Wide Bay Trail corridor, with additional trail width to be considered based on the need for greater capacity to accommodate the expected level of Use Bay Trail.
Yerba Buena SX80: They wanted to see the Bay trail extended to the former, his lordship site requesting that the proposed Bay trail alignment be updated to be consistent with the adopted Bay trail alignment shown in the Bay Trail Gap map
Yerba Buena SX80: and then finally, consider Bay trail amenities and consult with the Bay trail and active transportation team at Mtcabag to ensure consistency with the Bay trail goals and design needs
Yerba Buena SX80: and we have one more comment from somebody online.
Yerba Buena SX80: Randall Hagen, I’m going to ask you to unmute. You’ll have 3 min to speak.
Randahl Hagen: All right. Thank you.
Randahl Hagen: Just echoing a lot of the comments regarding the board sailors and the swimmers access. The current access is actually great in Berkeley compared to what we have elsewhere, especially the fake grass and the showers, is a great amenity
Randahl Hagen: with adjacent parking it creates a great place to gather, and we feel a little more protected with our gear and our cars altogether
Randahl Hagen: from vandalism, crime, and whatnot. We do walk barefoot across that parking lot. And to that currently non-functioning dock.
Randahl Hagen: That dock is only really functional, as other people said during low tide. And so you were forced to go over to the lordships. If it’s an afternoon low tide when the wind is up, or if you want to swim.
Randahl Hagen: I would pressure to formalize an access point with similar amenities, or even better amenities over at Lordships.
Randahl Hagen: because that would be a preferred access point, I think, for a lot of us.
Randahl Hagen: What we want is somewhere where we can park Close. We carry gear that is unwieldy, not easy to carry through parking lots. We’re barefoot.
Randahl Hagen: We want it to be safe. We would like to have priority access to those amenities for the the activities we’re doing.
Randahl Hagen: We would like to have deep water access, and that would be at lordships. So just to echo everything
Randahl Hagen: that has been said, we’d love to have this opportunity to really enhance the amenities that are already there, and protect what we have. Thank you.
Yerba Buena SX80: Thank you very much.
Yerba Buena SX80: No more hands raised. Okay.
Yerba Buena SX80: thank you, Ashley. And I just want to say thank you to everyone who’s commented the in-person and online comments.
Yerba Buena SX80: I think this is one of
Yerba Buena SX80: the most important periods of our meetings, because this is a chance where we really get to hear from stakeholders, and particularly stakeholders who are interested enough to come and speak to their issues. So, and you’ve provided a lot of detail which is incredibly helpful.
Yerba Buena SX80: So at this stage we will move to the next section of the agenda.
Yerba Buena SX80: and this is going to be a dialogue between the board
Yerba Buena SX80: and which everyone hears. But what we’ll be talking about is key information that we would want to have included for a project review, and
Yerba Buena SX80: and we were asked by the city, and we should keep this in mind, as well, you know, as to
Yerba Buena SX80: the type of
Yerba Buena SX80: the type of content, but also the approach to the materials that they’ll be preparing for us. You know, what?
Yerba Buena SX80: What do we like to see? And examples of that
Yerba Buena SX80: are typically things like making sure that connection points to the Bay trail are clearly documented, and we have sufficient context. So that would just be an example.
Yerba Buena SX80: So bored.
Yerba Buena SX80: I mean, we’ve heard a lot of a lot of detail from the city and from the public comment on
Yerba Buena SX80: issues. Well, 1st of all, the proposed scope of the work, but also issues and concerns and opportunities.
Yerba Buena SX80: And we usually look at our own policies and speak in relation to that. And of course, I’m just gonna run down a few things and just set this up. And then let’s talk so clearly for us, access is is a prime sort of central part of what we’re doing, and that’s land and water access. And so I think we should talk about that, and not from the standpoint of
Yerba Buena SX80: You know what the answers are, but what we would want to see
Yerba Buena SX80: developed in relation to that. And I think a subset of that is clearly the relationship between access and and parking
Yerba Buena SX80: and transit and other modes.
Yerba Buena SX80: Then I think we, you know, if we just go down our own policies. Views are very critical.
Yerba Buena SX80: The
Yerba Buena SX80: environmental access, particularly birds, is something from a policy standpoint, but also the broader biodiversity aspects. Safety is important
Yerba Buena SX80: the users and consideration of the users.
Yerba Buena SX80: The broader socioeconomic context, which Staff usually put a lot of effort into that as well in working with the proponents.
Yerba Buena SX80: and then just related to safety. You know, potential conflict points,
Yerba Buena SX80: issues associated with. You know, perhaps the current
Yerba Buena SX80: more decrepit condition of some of the parts of whether it’s the bay trail or access to the water.
Yerba Buena SX80: those sorts of issues. And then we usually talk about planting. If there’s new planting, we don’t have details of anything like that yet.
Yerba Buena SX80: And there is a proposed plaza, and we usually talk about signage and orientation. So these are just all of the things that we typically talk about and look for information in the in the packages. But I I just made a list. But
Yerba Buena SX80: I think maybe, Kristen, you might like to just sort of build on that from the standpoint of you know. What’s what you would see is critical to.
Yerba Buena SX80: you know, to help the project proponents and to help all of the constituent stakeholders. As this really important project moves forward.
Yerba Buena SX80: Thank you.
Yerba Buena SX80: Well, I just wanna echo. It’s really fantastic to see so many people who use the bay come out in support of their activities and hopefully, to Bob’s earlier point. Maybe this is, provide an opportunity for you all to kind of know each other and get organized and advocate for the things that you’re interested in. Hopefully, you’re now plugged into this process.
Yerba Buena SX80: I there’s sort of 3 things that I’m thinking about with this. The 1st is
Yerba Buena SX80: just the ferry, I think.
Yerba Buena SX80: an interesting question. I I sort of think of bringing a ferry because I in my mind I had the waterfront master plan still for this area in specific plan in my mind that there were going to be more development here, and to me a ferry service is a major transit node. That kind of unlocks redevelopment opportunities, and I think it would be interesting to know
Yerba Buena SX80: if the ferry service competes with Bart service, or does it add another transit benefit like.
Yerba Buena SX80: how does the fairy factor into a regional story?
Yerba Buena SX80: Because I’m sort of surprised to hear from people who are worried about the environment, but not in favor of ferries, the 0 emissions ferry service. To me that seems like a you know, 40% of our emissions come from transportation.
Yerba Buena SX80: And you know this is so close to the freeway where we can just see the cars pumping out gas. And so the opportunity regionally to add a 0 carbon emission connection is a is a major benefit, potentially. And so I think understanding and maybe quantifying the benefit, there would be helpful.
Yerba Buena SX80: I also think ferries very bike compatible as a mode. It’s very easy to just ride your bike on and put it. And so I think the idea of these bike connections, but making sure that they feel really safe to get across the freeway. That’s an important factor, I think. To look into.
Yerba Buena SX80: I also think. You know, for this parking question.
Yerba Buena SX80: I think that I like to say design is sort of a tool against these 0 sum conversations. We can’t have that. These ideas compete with each other right? There’s like this analogy of 2 people are arguing over an orange, and then it turns out one wants the peel for their cake, and the other one wants the juice, and everybody got the piece that they wanted. And as I’m listening to the public comment, it sounds like a lot of the recreational activity is happening towards the southern end.
Yerba Buena SX80: And
Yerba Buena SX80: maybe there’s a way to think about the ferry parking happening in a different place, such that you aren’t creating competition between these uses, and I think something interesting for Kittleson to look at would be, you know.
Yerba Buena SX80: I I’m hearing the concerns around paid parking, limiting access. I also know that
Yerba Buena SX80: charging for parking is a way to organize
Yerba Buena SX80: access in a more equitable way. So, for example, if you have parking passes for, let’s say, the queer silkies. If you’re part of the queer silkies, you get a parking pass, or if you’re part of you know one of these groups. You get a parking pass which allows you to park there in in a certain zone, and it’s directing people to park in that zone. And then if you’re a ferry user, you get a parking pass which only works in this other area, and maybe it costs a different amount. I do think introducing paid parking actually helps
Yerba Buena SX80: all interested parties get the levers that they’re interested in and sort of organize transportation behavior in a way that is more optimal for all parties.
Yerba Buena SX80: and I think an interesting study would also be, you know, parking plans. Often our tem plans are often looking at kind of peak demand times, which is, would be relevant to the ferry. But it sounds like there’s a lot of kind of atypical non-peak use here, and just really doing a real study. To understand what those implications are would be really helpful.
Yerba Buena SX80: And then I think the last piece would be.
Yerba Buena SX80: you know, looking at what are the zones that the kites? Where are they parking and doing their setup with their equipment? And then where are they? You know, in the bay, actually, what areas are they using? What areas of the fisher folk using what areas of the swimmers using? What would the path of the ferry be? Actually just put these things all on paper together and understand
Yerba Buena SX80: what the conflicts might be. There might actually be less conflicts than anticipated. Or it might be it would help.
Yerba Buena SX80: maybe illuminate the ways of managing and minimizing those conflicts.
Yerba Buena SX80: But I just echo what Jacinta said this, you know, this seems like a really important opportunity. The presence of transportation here really unlocks more transit connectedness to this area. For folks who want to come enjoy this place. It unlocks more, you know, carbon free or low carbon. I don’t know if it’s I don’t know exactly how it’s 0 carbon. There’s offsets or something, but low carbon transportation.
Yerba Buena SX80: you know, that’s a those are very important regional priorities. So that’s my long, rambling thoughts.
Yerba Buena SX80: If I could just build before we go to the others. Just on that point of, you know, a
Yerba Buena SX80: putting some effort into user mapping and lines of movement conflict points. Potentially, you know, tying it back to parking could be very helpful.
Yerba Buena SX80: I remember over the years in planning projects. You know, we would sometimes do this, you know. Exercise, you know, a day in the life of, you know. But you could imagine, with the different stakeholder groups to actually map.
Yerba Buena SX80: you know, when are the swimmers there? And you know, given. Obviously there are title implications, for where the optimal points of entry are but you know what? What are the hours of the day, you know, fishing. You know. Just sort of really attempt to to map all of these key stakeholder groups. Obviously the sailing and windsurfing, and all of that is is part of it.
Yerba Buena SX80: because it is a pretty complex area. And you know, so over there today, just walking around. And I was reminded of you know, there are a lot of different user groups. And you’ve made a great effort at outreach, particularly to understood unserved people. But yeah, just sometimes diagramming these things start to help everybody understand what a what the real picture is, you know. And you know, why is it
Yerba Buena SX80: parking area at 80% capacity on a Monday morning in February. Who are those people there, you know? Is it all swimmers, or is it?
Yerba Buena SX80: Do they all go? You know, if you looked at that same parking lot 2 h later in the middle of winter. Is that empty? Or, you know, are they cars that are there overnight? You know, all of these questions are important, I think, to help help us understand the access picture. But I I also think that
Yerba Buena SX80: you know, as as far as the
Yerba Buena SX80: information we like to see, you know, clarification of how people will be oriented. As you move into the design phase, you know, if you’re coming in, you know, are there lots that are
Yerba Buena SX80: predetermined for different activities that occur adjacent those lots?
Yerba Buena SX80: And how does the signage work. How does the access work? You know, if there is paid parking, or.
Yerba Buena SX80: you know, access
Yerba Buena SX80: cards that guarantee different user groups, different areas, you know, just sort of thinking that through just being able to articulate that strategy would be extremely helpful.
Yerba Buena SX80: I’ll just hold off on that. But, Gary, do you want to jump in with informational
Yerba Buena SX80: areas that or or materials that you would like to see in a design presentation.
Yerba Buena SX80: Sure, maybe. Maybe. I don’t know exactly the materials, but maybe the the topics more. So I I wanna say, first, st I that for the
Yerba Buena SX80: some people who are sort of anti ferry or concerned about the industrialization of the waterfront. I mean, most people know. I think, that Wida was started after the 89 earthquake right when the when the bridge was not functioning, and you know it was a lifeline to the East Bay. So I think that is good context for the discussion about the about the ferry, and whether it belongs there or not.
Yerba Buena SX80: and it is listening to all the comments I mean. It’s so informative, and I seems like the key would be in terms of materials. Maybe it’s circulation of all types. You know how. Not just cars. But is there going to be any public transit that would be provided to serve this area better. How do bicycles arrive?
Yerba Buena SX80: You know there’s recreational bikers. And then there’s cyclists who are moving pretty quickly
Yerba Buena SX80: through. If we if you just looked at every type of possible circulation.
Yerba Buena SX80: and and overlaid them, I think that would be super informative.
Yerba Buena SX80: And then, obviously, there’s a
Yerba Buena SX80: competition between, you know, more parking, and, you know concerns about open space and ecology.
Yerba Buena SX80: So I don’t have any answers for that. But it would be great to if you could figure out how to deal with the circulation in some manner other than cars, and
Yerba Buena SX80: that kind of raises the issue of the pay parking, which
Yerba Buena SX80: maybe that’s interesting. That
Yerba Buena SX80: you know, paying for parking can help to to organize the parking. That’s an interesting concept.
Yerba Buena SX80: Seems like residents of Berkeley, for example, could have free parking. You know. I’m thinking about how in San Francisco. You know, you can show your driver’s license at the Arboretum, and you can enter for free. So you know, there, there might be some kind of program like that, so that certain people are not, you know, affected, you know.
Yerba Buena SX80: And then beyond that, I think a phasing plan. You know to what extent you know to the extent that one could be put together to show you know how how the project would proceed, and how each
Yerba Buena SX80: project could be
Yerba Buena SX80: brought to completion, so that it can stand alone. Without the completion of the other phases, because we know there’s gaps between phases and some phases, you know, never happened.
Yerba Buena SX80: I think that would be helpful.
Yerba Buena SX80: And then, finally, I wanted to address the issue of maintenance
Yerba Buena SX80: or I think that we we would like to address the issue of maintenance, because
Yerba Buena SX80: it seems like it’s easier to find funding to, to build things and to make new things. But it’s harder to find funding to maintain things, and maybe that’s A comment.
Yerba Buena SX80: or it would be great to hear. You know
Yerba Buena SX80: city of Berkeley, comment on your challenges for maintaining parks, you know. I think it would be informative for everybody to hear that, because I’m sure that you have challenges that not, you know everyone is is aware of, but I know it’s it’s
Yerba Buena SX80: It’s an issue everywhere. On every project we look at. You know that the you know how to ensure that the maintenance will continue over time, and should there be an endowment or some kind of a fund, you know, to maintain these things once there’s a commitment to build them, should the maintenance, you know, become part of the funding somehow.
Yerba Buena SX80: Those are my comments for now. Thanks.
Yerba Buena SX80: Hello!
Yerba Buena SX80: But
Yerba Buena SX80: thank you. So. Thanks for the presentation that was really useful. I’ve worked on a number of ferry projects and
Yerba Buena SX80: transportation ferry projects commuter ferry and
Yerba Buena SX80: yeah, I you know. I think they definitely provide a great service.
Yerba Buena SX80: So I’m just gonna talk about, I think, answer the question as to what I think might be helpful for
Yerba Buena SX80: moving the design to a resolution that’s easier for the the Drb. And the Ecrb to re review. And this is, you know, more of an engineering perspective.
Yerba Buena SX80: I do recommend moving up more detailed analysis as part of the Eir to support the Eir
Yerba Buena SX80: I think clarifying access and recreational zones, if you will, similar to what
Yerba Buena SX80: Jacinta said about you know, you know, how do users use the site? Where, how do they transit it. And when are they there? And things like that, I think, is really important, temporal and spatial
Yerba Buena SX80: and
Yerba Buena SX80: I think wake and local traffic issues may be worth taking a look at, and in particular, what the operational
Yerba Buena SX80: constraints might be on the on the ferry.
Yerba Buena SX80: both due to environmental as well as traffic, which includes recreational
Yerba Buena SX80: and I you know it’s I. I do think it would be worth considering the latent demand for
Yerba Buena SX80: this space. Although I recognize that SQL. Often looks at
Yerba Buena SX80: existing conditions which are frequently already degraded.
Yerba Buena SX80: So. But I think I think the city could probably consider through the public outreach.
Yerba Buena SX80: Consider this latent demand for parking and and access that we’ve heard about.
Yerba Buena SX80: So more specifically, getting into the
Yerba Buena SX80: more detailed analysis on the engineering side. I think a marine analysis engineering criteria needed to inform the environmental
Yerba Buena SX80: process. I think you probably need to go to a preliminary design level
Yerba Buena SX80: to provide more confidence in the facilities, their effectiveness and effects, including.
Yerba Buena SX80: a comparison of alternatives, although it’s not clear what those alternatives would be. But
Yerba Buena SX80: whatever they are, some analysis of their
Yerba Buena SX80: function and impacts are probably worthwhile
Yerba Buena SX80: before deciding which alternative to to go forward with, and in particular wave analysis, including wave reflection and breakwater design
Yerba Buena SX80: obviously current. You know, tidal currents and winds are important, too. We mentioned
Yerba Buena SX80: our our skepticism about a 1 time dredging
Yerba Buena SX80: I know the sediment delivery to the bay has been reduced since the
Yerba Buena SX80: 18 fifties. Gold mine slug came through, but I don’t think it’s that
Yerba Buena SX80: small. I think there’s still a lot of suspended sediment. So I’m a little surprised.
Yerba Buena SX80: I think ferry wake projections is something that needs to be addressed. I’ve seen this not addressed adequately, and it becomes a problem in the public process with people that are sensitive to it.
Yerba Buena SX80: And that the waves that are generated by the ferries are not just, you know, local.
Yerba Buena SX80: They also depend on the pathway that the ferries take as they’re going as they’re planing, and then they go from planing to displacement and from displacement to planing, they throw a big wave or a series of bigger waves. So in the past. People have looked at ferry routes and
Yerba Buena SX80: actually have had to restrict path the the path of the ferries and also their speed
Yerba Buena SX80: to avoid throwing waves objectionable waves in certain areas.
Yerba Buena SX80: So that’s an issue with catamarans. But I I think it’s an important thing to that. The Wida should really
Yerba Buena SX80: take to heart.
Yerba Buena SX80: Frequency of operational conditions is something like you. Could I worked on the downtown ferry terminal here in San Francisco, and there’s like we looked at all this stuff, and I think there are other examples. But the question is, how how often will the ferry be functional with different configurations due to things like high tides, winds, big waves, currents, all those things. So the operational
Yerba Buena SX80: criteria are important. And I think again, conflicts with existing water dependent uses
Yerba Buena SX80: the last comment I would like to make, which is
Yerba Buena SX80: You know, it’s kind of personal to me that I think citizen well-being is important.
Yerba Buena SX80: and there is a demand for access into the water as well as near the water, and I think, which I think is arguably not recognized, commensurate with its importance.
Yerba Buena SX80: So I’ll I’ll leave it at that.
Yerba Buena SX80: Thank you, Bob. I’d just like to speak to 3 3 areas
Yerba Buena SX80: the 1st is the bay trail itself, and in the presentation you accurately depicted that it’s in variable condition and the widths are variable. And so what we would like to see when you come back with you know the design
Yerba Buena SX80: advanced would be a clear diagram.
Yerba Buena SX80: showing you know what the width of the trail as proposed, newly proposed, and you know, one of the public comments suggested, you know, between 20 and 30 feet. But I suggest, if Staff could work with the city to determine that, because the
Yerba Buena SX80: the real I mean the the trail at the moment is much narrower than that, and I think some locations may prevent the trail being 18, we would typically see 18 to 20 feet. So. And and I think if you could work through, you know, is it a shared use recreational bike pedestrian trail. You know how
Yerba Buena SX80: delineated that is. I noted that you’re going to have a which is great. A separated bike trail or bike path coming down University Avenue, which is excellent, but you know just a very clear thought through diagram on the bay trail improvements.
Yerba Buena SX80: The second area I want to comment on is the plaza you mentioned a plaza, and you know there’s no design yet, but you know we can all envisage, you know, some space there as the as the
Yerba Buena SX80: the new ferry pier meets the land, and you know, I
Yerba Buena SX80: plazas become complex points of interaction and cross movements, and some, I think, there was mentioned of potentially programming. But it is an extremely windy area. So I would
Yerba Buena SX80: like to see when you come back with a some developed design, how the wind would be handled. How open versus protected that space is how functional, you know, it can really be because,
Yerba Buena SX80: but you know a plaza that no one can really stay in, because it’s not.
Yerba Buena SX80: Maybe there’s not comfortable places to sit, or
Yerba Buena SX80: you know, there could be a variety of reasons. But but in this case, I think the environmental wind factor is is very significant, so you know, like to see how that is being handled as well as it says. You know, there’s a
Yerba Buena SX80: sign, right? It’s a sign for the one of the restaurants. I think that is right at the entry to the Ferry Wolf. And so you know just how all of how the views you know, to the the facility will be handled would be important.
Yerba Buena SX80: And then, you know, one thing that would help us a lot, I think, based on some of the comments we heard. You know.
Yerba Buena SX80: parking lot that’s not open.
Yerba Buena SX80: a access point to the water that isn’t functioning.
Yerba Buena SX80: It would be helpful to understand if there are some items that
Yerba Buena SX80: standard would go into a standard operational maintenance budget for the city where the city might be.
Yerba Buena SX80: Independently of this project going to be able to resolve some of these through maintenance. It would be helpful when you come back to be able to say.
Yerba Buena SX80: You know
Yerba Buena SX80: the city. The current city Ops budget, you know, is proposing to undertake these specific repairs. So we don’t have to.
Yerba Buena SX80: You know we don’t have to, even if that’s to keep it going for a few years until the bigger project happens. That might be helpful for us to understand if there’s any capacity for the city to do that.
Yerba Buena SX80: Okay, Kristen, one more thing. Yeah.
Yerba Buena SX80: I know that the Bay area is a region that loves process. We love our process, and sometimes it can make things so much better. And sometimes it also makes it very challenging to do things that seem like a very good idea, like 0 emission transportation. And
Yerba Buena SX80: I. I don’t know what kind of activity Berkeley has in Sacramento. But there are some State legislations that are looking at streamlining Ceqa or removing Ceqa requirements entirely for electric trains. I don’t see why ferries couldn’t be added into that ferry projects.
Yerba Buena SX80: I would also say that, you know, projects like Mission Rock Pier 70 were able to get exemptions from State lands to be able to do housing.
Yerba Buena SX80: So I think some of these big regional issues, like housing and carbon free transportation are so critical and imperative to the crisis crises that we have going on right now, I think it would be maybe good to look at some of those opportunities to streamline some of these things to happen.
Yerba Buena SX80: and I would also say, I don’t know if this is controversial or not, but I would say to the extent that you could include any future dredging within the existing permit, I
Yerba Buena SX80: would say we need to make sure it’s very easy to continue to operate.
Yerba Buena SX80: to start, to operate and continue to operate 0 emissions.
Yerba Buena SX80: transit systems. And so if you think this might need future dredging, and you’re not including that as part of the permit, because you think it makes it more complicated.
Yerba Buena SX80: I would say, do everything you can right now to set up a system that will work to Jacinda’s point about ongoing operations and maintenance. Do everything you can to make sure that this is a system that will work well in the beginning, and will continue to work really well into the future.
Yerba Buena SX80: That’s my best advice.
Yerba Buena SX80: So I think that’s it for our feedback.
Yerba Buena SX80: we don’t want to make it sound like there is
Yerba Buena SX80: so much to do that we’ll never get there. But but certain key diagrams, I think, will help a lot, and Staff can work with you on that.
Yerba Buena SX80: And
Yerba Buena SX80: I think just in summary, I’m very grateful that everyone who spoke tonight took the time to do that. I think, for the city. It’s very helpful to hear
Yerba Buena SX80: everyone express their concerns and interests and different groups to be able to
Yerba Buena SX80: be heard. And so I just encourage that process of interaction to keep going over the next few months as well, because, the more alignment there is, you know, when we see you next
Yerba Buena SX80: the more straightforward everything becomes.
Yerba Buena SX80: So thanks for the good work so far and thank you everyone for coming along tonight. Ashley.
Yerba Buena SX80: Let’s see, there is a project team response. Is that correct?
Yerba Buena SX80: If you would like to provide any closing comments. You are welcome, to
Yerba Buena SX80: sure. I’d like to provide some commentary on the dredging.
Yerba Buena SX80: we, from the analysis that’s been done regarding sediment transportation.
Yerba Buena SX80: We do think eventually another dredging episode would be needed. We’re not saying never
Yerba Buena SX80: from a practical standpoint, though, the way that
Yerba Buena SX80: Bcdc and other regulatory agencies typically handle maintenance. Dredging is at most a 10 year time horizon
Yerba Buena SX80: and based on the analysis that’s been done. It’s not expected that additional maintenance dredging would be needed for more than 10 years, therefore we do not expect to be able to include it in the project. There’s a distinction between maintenance dredging and one time dredging efforts. And that’s how the agencies tend to slice it. So that’s the practical reason for why we are not including additional dredging in this permitting effort. It’s not to say it won’t ever be needed. It’s that we kind of can’t
Yerba Buena SX80: thank you for that, Liz.
Yerba Buena SX80: yeah, I don’t think I have any other project specific comments to make. There’s a lot here for us to digest. I really appreciate your thoughtful review and consideration, and we look forward to coming back with you with much greater detail in the future. Well, thank you very much. We will look forward to seeing the project as it advances. It’s a very important project. So thank you.
Yerba Buena SX80: Okay.
Yerba Buena SX80: So I think with that we’ll adjourn the meeting.
Yerba Buena SX80: Would someone propose a motion? I’d like to make a motion to adjourn.
Yerba Buena SX80: Thank you. Gary. Second, second, Kristen. Okay, all in favour.
Yerba Buena SX80: Hi, okay. The meeting is closed. Thanks very much. Everyone.
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