Treasure and Yerba Buena Islands - an opportunity to create a paragon of sustainability

The redevelopment of the former naval station on Treasure and Yerba Buena Islands presents a great opportunity. The entire surface of the islands lies within a half mile of the water, but it remains to be seen whether the islands will fulfill their potential as a model of sustainable shoreline development.

On the positive side, the Treasure Island Sustainability Plan, released in March, calls for many earth-friendly measures: resource-efficient infrastructure; innovative wastewater technology, including constructed wetlands for stormwater treatment; protection of biodiversity; transit-, pedestrian-, and bicycle-oriented transportation; clustered development; and use of renewable energy. The plan does need to be strengthened in the areas of green building, compact development, and transportation.

Unfortunately, the Sustainability Plan has not been adopted as a guiding policy statement, and there is no guarantee that it will be incorporated into the final agreements between the Treasure Island Development Authority (TIDA) and Treasure Island Community Development, LLC, the proposing master developer. The Sustainability Plan is merely one in a series of draft documents that may or may not be incorporated into the project, and the current project proposal is inconsistent with the Sustainability Plan in many important ways.

In mid-July, TICD released its "First Edition, Design for Development: Design Guidelines", which, according to its introduction, "establishes the design principles for Treasure Island and Yerba Buena Island as a whole and general design guidelines for the varied development and open space areas anticipated within the 459-acre development."

The Sierra Club sees several problems with the Design for Development, a 55-page document (printed single-sided). It contradicts the smart-transportation language in the Sustainability Plan by calling for a parking garage with a minimum of 500 spaces. Commendably, it unbundles some parking spaces from residential units, meaning that tenants or buyers will be able to rent or own a living space without having to pay for a parking space.

Nonetheless, it provides copious off- and on-street parking, as well as shoreline roads of questionable necessity. The Design assumes and reinforces the October 2004 draft of the Land Use Plan, which is based on unsubstantiated assumptions regarding transportation and which, according to TIDA's Redevelopment Schedule, will be revised in late autumn.

Although the Design for Development is labeled "First Edition" and is intended for public review, the second edition is not expected to be prepared until after the Board of Supervisors has given a go-ahead to the project, and opportunities for public input have dwindled. It appears that this piece-by-piece approach is locking in a transit-unfriendly land-use plan.

Sadly, the work of UC Berkeley's Advanced Urban Design Studio (see John King's column, "If a green utopia on Treasure Island sounds far-fetched, dreamers have a plan" in the June 2 San Francisco Chronicle) was ignored by the development team. After semester-long research and analysis, most of the six student teams concluded that automobile use could and should be drastically reduced. Increasing the density and rearranging the land-use plan to put retail and transportation services within walking distance of more residents were deemed an essential component of sustainable development.

San Francisco should not pass up this opportunity to create a major public asset that celebrates the Bay Area's natural and cultural resources while hosting a vibrant, walkable neighborhood. The former Naval Station Treasure Island could become a widely recognized model of environmentally and socially sound redevelopment.

WhatYouCanDo

Write to San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom at:

City Hall
One Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place
San Francisco, CA 94102.

Ask him to take a more active interest in making the islands the model of sustainability he has talked about in the past. He should urge the Treasure Island Development Authority to:

• see that the relevant General Plan amendments are adopted before the Term Sheet Agreement (outlining the fundamental terms of the deal) is finalized, so that city policy can guide development decisions and not vice-versa;

• conduct an independent study of the feasibility of ferry service, to determine how many passengers would be necessary to support a service that doesn't require a level of subsidy that will harm regional bus service;

• if ferry service makes sense, conduct a comparative analysis of potential terminal sites on the island to determine which would result in the highest ridership and the most walkable land-use plan (the current ferry study does not adequately address ridership issues);

• conduct a peer-review process for the land-use plan;

• revise the Design for Development before the Term Sheet goes to the Board of Supervisors;

• in the spirit of the Public Trust, develop a public-benefits plan that articulates why a Bay Area resident or out-of-town visitor would want to go to the islands.

Tell the mayor to keep the memory of World Environment Day alive by making Treasure and Yerba Buena Islands a world-class development.

In addition to the Sustainability Plan, the draft documents released so far include plans for land use and open space, affordable housing, and infrastructure. Some of these may be viewed on the TIDA's website at www.sfgov.org/site/treasureisland_index.asp?id=284

For information about the San Francisco Group's Treasure Island/Yerba Buena Sustainability Campaign, please visit http://sanfranciscobay.sierraclub.org/SFGroup/issues/treasure-island.html

Treasure Island and the Public Trust

One of the most important applications of the Public Trust doctrine in the Bay Area is in the conversion of Treasure Island to civilian use.

Because the original construction of Treasure Island (by adding fill to a shallow spot in the Bay) displaced navigable and fishable waters and aquatic habitat, it is subject to the Public Trust for the public benefit. The Treasure Island Development Authority (TIDA) is the trustee responsible for assuring that human and environmental needs are met as the redevelopment of the former military base moves forward.

None of the island could be devoted to privatizing uses such as housing except that the law provides for a Public Trust exchange. It has been proposed that the trust designation be lifted from certain portions of Treasure Island and impressed instead on portions of Yerba Buena Island. The Sierra Club and the Public Trust Group (an organization founded by Sylvia McLaughlin to promote compliance with the Public Trust doctrine, primarily with respect to closing military bases) support sustainable residential development on Treasure Island, provided that the spirit of the Public Trust is upheld, with inviting public uses that benefit all. We have yet to see a plan for the uses that will serve all the people, including future generations.

Ruth Gravanis