The Newspaper of the San Francisco Bay Chapter
Sept - Oct 2005
TABLE OF CONTENTS
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Democratic Party joins opponents of waterfront mega-mall
Does a waterfront shopping mall with 45 chain stores at Piers 27 - 31 constitute "maritime and other water-essential activities" as mandated by 1990's voter-approved Proposition H? The Mills Corporation claims that it does.
The Sierra Club and other environmental, business, and neighborhood groups don't think so. Neither does the San Francisco Democratic Party, which in July went on record as opposing the project. The Sierra Club and the Democratic Party are urging the Board of Supervisors to reject it.
The circumstances around this controversial waterfront project are getting fishier all the time. On June 25, a front-page San Francisco Chronicle article reported that the developer, the Mills Corporation, made significant campaign donations to state controller Steve Westly and other members of the State Lands Commission. On June 2, 2003, the commission ruled the Mills mall consistent with California's Public Trust doctrine, moving the project forward. This decision was made in El Segundo, 300 miles from the proposed project site, without hearing from the people most affected by the project in San Francisco.
We have requested that Westly, as a member of the State Lands Commission, initiate a new review of the Mills proposal and its consistency with the Public Trust. The meeting should be held in San Francisco. Controller Westly was the official who called for the 2003 review, and he recommended approval of the project by the commission.
Since that decision, Mills has made a number of significant and controversial changes to the project. These changes have made the project even more of a mall and less of a recreation project. For instance, this past June Mills changed 6,000 square feet of proposed recreation space into retail. These changes merit a review by the State Lands Commission.
WhatYouCanDo - This month's key action
Write to:
State Controller Steve Westly
Member, California State Lands Commission
300 Capitol Mall, Sixth Floor
Sacramento, CA 95814
(916)445-2636
fax: (916)322-4404
www.sco.ca.gov/eo/contact/contactgen.shtml
Urge him to have the State Lands Commission reevaluate the proposed Mills Piers 27 - 31 project for compliance with the Public Trust. The meeting should be held, including a public hearing, in San Francisco.
© 2005 San Francisco Sierra Club Yodeler