Harbor rebuild would replace small sailboats with luxury yachts

San Francisco is planning to remove 289 small craft from its Marina Small Craft Harbor and replace them with 90-foot diesel yachts under the so-called San Francisco Marina Harbor Renovation Plan. This $38 million plan, to be funded with public monies, calls for replacing all the existing Harbor infrastructure with a very different layout, including a new building on Marina Green. Though the Marina Green and Harbor are a City Park project, this proposal has never had a public hearing.

The Sierra Club, the project neighbors, and many boat owners advocate a repair of the Harbor retaining its current footprint. Instead we are getting an expansion project (including the driving of 750 concrete piles to the Bay floor) for the purpose of making room for luxury yachts that will block views and pollute the air and the Bay. The plan also calls for adding over 500,000 cubic feet of Bay fill to build 350 linear feet of additional breakwaters. The breakwater s would be 25 feet wide, enclosing over 150,000 square feet of surface water, but would offer no public access and would spoil public views of the Bay from the Marina Green.

The plan has many other features potentially harmful to the environment and aesthetic quality of this scenic area, including:

• construction of another 300 feet of breakwater next to Fort Mason;
• a huge increase in electricity consumption to power the almost continual use of dehumidifiers by the large yachts while berthed;
• elimination of a many small, non-polluting sailboats, reducing outdoor recreation for people of average means (the plan will consider the storage of some small boats on trailers);
• dredging and pile-driving in contaminated Bay soils;
• construction of an 18-foot high warehouse building on the Marina Green open space;
• installation of Recreation and Park Department administrative offices at the Marina Green and adding night lighting in the only remaining unlit open area for viewing the night sky.

The San Francisco Planning Department concluded that the project would have no significant effects on the environment, and that no environmental study was needed. This decision was appealed by the Sierra Club, the Marina Civic Improvement Association, a neighborhood group, and the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. In the face of these appeals, the Planning Department agreed to prepare an Environmental Impact Report for the project. The Draft EIR is scheduled to be released for public review this fall.

Commercial boats

In July, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors passed legislation allowing commercial boats to dock at the Marina Harbor.

There was no notice of this pending legislation sent to neighbors, berth holders, recreationists, or environmental groups.

The Marina Harbor has had a strictly recreational use for 70 years. The state legislation of 1935 (as amended) which transferred most of the Marina District waterfront to the City, specified that the property "shall be used solely for aquatic, recreational, boulevard, park, and playground purposes." It further states that the area won't be used for profit by any entity.

The public needs to weigh in on the effects of this environmentally damaging proposal. We need a public hearing.

WhatYouCanDo

Contact Recreation and Park Commission liaison Margaret A. McArthur at (415) 831-2750 or fax (415) 221-8034; and/or one or more of the Supervisors. Urge them to hold a public hearing with full public notice and outreach on the issue of commercial use of the Marina Harbor before allowing its implementation.

The mailing address for all supervisors is

City Hall, Room 2244
One Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place
San Francisco, CA 94102.

Jake McGoldrick (District 1)
(415)554-7410
Jake.McGoldrick@sfgov.org
fax: (415)554-7415

Michela Alioto-Pier (District 2)
(415)554-7752
Michela.Alioto-Pier@sfgov.org
fax: (415)554-7843

Aaron Peskin (District 3)
(415)554-7450
Aaron.Peskin@sfgov.org
fax: (415)554-7454

Fiona Ma (District 4)
(415)554-7460
Fiona.Ma@sfgov.org
fax: (415)554-7432

Ross Mirkarimi (District 5)
(415)554-7630
Ross.Mirkarimi@sfgov.org
fax: (415)554-7634

Chris Daly (District 6)
(415)554-7970
Chris.Daly@sfgov.org
fax: (415)554-7974

Sean Elsbernd (District 7)
(415)554-6516
Sean.Elsbernd@sfgov.org
fax: (415)554-6546

Bevan Dufty (District 8)
(415)554-9698
Bevan.Dufty@sfgov.org
fax: (415)554-6909

Tom Ammiano (District 9)
(415)554-5144
Tom.Ammiano@sfgov.org
fax: (415)554-6255

Sophie Maxwell (District 10)
(415)554-7670
Sophie.Maxwell@sfgov.org
fax: (415)554-7674

Gerardo Sandoval (District 11)
(415)554-6975
Gerardo.Sandoval@sfgov.org
fax: (415)554-6979

Joan Girardot, Marina Civic Improvement Association