By Norman La Force
Later this month the Richmond Planning Commission will meet to consider the sale of City-owned land at Point Molate to a private developer for a luxury development. This is the last chance to stop the sale of this priceless public resource before the proposal goes to the City Council for final approval.
Point Molate should be preserved for all of Richmond — not a wealthy few. Please don’t miss this opportunity to speak out against the sale of Point Molate. Send a message to the Planning Commissioners today asking them not to rush through approval of this environmentally destructive, inequitable, and fiscally risky project.
Point Molate is one of the last great stretches of shoreline in the Bay Area that’s not already developed or protected for the public. It is home to an unusual diversity of rare plant and animal life, and its offshore eelgrass beds — a pillar of the Bay Estuary ecosystem — are the healthiest and most expansive in San Francisco Bay.
Instead of selling off Point Molate to a private developer, the City should adopt the more equitable, economically prudent, and environmentally beneficial Community Plan. That plan would create a magnificent public waterfront park providing community recreational opportunities and preserving important ecosystems. It would preserve sacred sites on Ohlone ancestral land and restore historic Winehaven Village as a commercial, educational and cultural destination providing jobs for Richmond residents and revenue for the city.
Join us in demanding a stop to this sale of public land until ongoing litigation over the proposal is resolved, financial and environmental risks have been addressed, and the COVID-19 crisis no longer prohibits the public from fully participating.
Here's a rendering of Point Molate as it would look under the Community Plan vision:
Image by Steve Price of Urban Advantage.