Open space on Albany Waterfront
By Patricia Jones, Albany
Thursday, May 20, 2010
The Albany community has come together for open space and recreation for the Albany Waterfront, envisioning only nominal "green" development for its shoreline.
On April 19, the Albany City Council unanimously voted to accept the Voices to Vision Report and to treat it as a living planning document that reflects Albany residents' waterfront vision.
Mayor Joanne Wile joined the council in praising the public participants and Fern Tiger & Associates for their hard work and dedication to producing an open, ...
Volunteers Clean-up Albany Shoreline on Earth Day
575 pounds of garbage and 53 pounds of recyclable materials!
Volunteers came out on a perfect Bay Area sunny day to show their Albany shoreline some love by cleaning it up to celebrate Earth Day!
Families, groups and children joined in the scavenger hunt for stuff and brought it proudly back to be weighed. We collected 575 pounds of garbage and 53 pounds of recyclable materials.
We also had eight creek clean-up sites in Richmond and San Pablo where about 300 volunteers joined in and collected 4800 pounds of garbage and 200 pounds of recyclables.
We thank all ...
Environmentalists fight Redwood City project
By Carolyn Jones, Chronicle Staff Writer
Monday, March 1, 2010
Environmental leaders are gearing up for a protracted fight over plans to build a 30,000-resident development at the Redwood City salt flats.
More than 90 current and former elected Bay Area officials last week demanded that Redwood City immediately halt the Saltworks project, which would bring up to 12,000 housing units, offices and retail to the shoreline.
"We all have a stake in what happens in Redwood City," said Contra Costa County supervisor John Gioia. "It's about habitat, biological ...
Big ideas sought for Oakland Bay Bridge park
By John King, Chronicle Urban Design Writer
Monday, March 1, 2010
It's a good bet that few drivers crossing the Bay Bridge pay attention to where it touches down in Oakland - a smear of maintenance yards and parking, stray buildings and scrub.
But with the new eastern span of the bridge scheduled to open in 2013, government planners are floating the idea of a much different role for the 1.5-mile-long strip: a park that would celebrate the bridge and the region, with attractions scaled to the immense cranes of the nearby Port of Oakland.
There's no design ...
Ballot initiative to fund state parks draws big interest
By Kurtis Alexander, Santa Cruz Sentinel
Friday , February 26, 2010
SANTA CRUZ -- A massive volunteer-led signature drive is finding its way to street corners, grocery stores and weekend festivities along the Central Coast.
The corps of name gatherers, who range from college students to retirees, has seen the gates come down across many of California's 278 state parks this year, and the group thinks the cash-starved park system can be resurrected with a ballot measure.
"I don't remember signature-gathering on this scale before," said Bonny Hawley, executive ...
Owner Back in the Saddle at Santa Anita Race Track
By Charles Proctor, Los Angeles Business Journal Staff
Monday, February 8, 2010
Less than a year after it appeared that Santa Anita Park was headed for the auction block, the raceway is on track to remain under the ownership of Canadian horse-racing enthusiast Frank Stronach despite his financial woes.
A deal that has been worked out among Stronach's bankrupt Magna Entertainment Corp. and its creditors also would end the bid by L.A. developer Rick Caruso to buy the Arcadia track, where he plans to build another Grove-style mall in its vast parking lot.
Under ...
Albany Hopes Community Input Will Resolve Waterfront Debate
By Paul Gackle, The Berkeley Daily Planet
Thursday January 14, 2010
For more than 40 years the city of Albany has been caught in a game of tug-of-war over its waterfront property. But the city hopes that a new campaign to solicit community input will break the stalemate and provide a shared vision for the community's shoreline.
More than 375 Albany residents attended the city's Community Center and Senior Center over the Jan. 9-10 weekend to participate in the last round of community meetings aimed at finding common ground in a battle over the property that has ...
Environmental groups turn in paperwork for DMV fee to fund California state parks
By Paul Rogers, Mercury News
Tuesday, November 03, 2009
Hoping to break the recent cycle of proposed state parks closures, a coalition of California environmental groups took the first major step Tuesday toward qualifying a measure for next November's ballot that would roughly double the state parks budget by imposing a new annual fee on vehicle registration.
The text of the proposed ballot measure submitted to the attorney general's office for a title and summary reveals some new information:
The fee would be $18 a year per vehicle, not $15 as previou...
Chevron Donates Easement To East Bay Regional Park District for Bay Trail
By Shelly Lewis and Brent Tippen
Monday, November 2, 2009
Chevron is joining efforts with the East Bay Regional Park District (EBRPD) to expand public access to Richmond's Point San Pablo Peninsula along the San Pablo Bay. Chevron agreed to donate an easement over a portion of its property to allow EBRPD to construct, operate and maintain a public multi-use recreational trail along the shoreline.
At its upcoming November 3 board meeting, the EBRPD Board of Directors will formally accept the trail easement donation from Chevron located near its refinery operations ...
County ready to back Point Molate casino plan
By John Simerman, Contra Costa Times
Sunday, November 01, 2009
For $12 million a year, Contra Costa County would turn its staunch opposition to outright support for a major Indian casino-hotel resort on the Richmond waterfront, according to a draft of the pending deal.
The agreement with the Guidiville Band of Pomo Indians would erase the county's blanket opposition to urban gaming and halt its attack against a big Las Vegas-style casino planned at the former Point Molate Naval Fuel Depot.
The Board of Supervisors plans to discuss the pending deal at its ...